Lines to Cross
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: Kouichi will do anything for his friends. So will Judai. And yet they wind up against each other, and not because their interests clash.
1. Chapter 1: Pride

**A/N:** Kouichi's deck was designed through trial and error (and bugging a lot of opponents considering its kind of annoying to play against) on Dueling Network (I'm reafterthought btw). I figured it would be best to put it to the test through real duels to see its strengths and weaknesses and various combinations of it. Also, because of those tournament rules, I'm using 8000LP as the start. Since this is post-GX, the rules could have changed within that space. And there's more room to work with too.

Names are the Japanese version, but cards are the official English names. I think less readers recognise Japanese card names as opposed to character names (which I'm using more because of Digimon than GX).

The term "destroyed" is used quite loosely, but it's normally described as: destroyed in battle or via a card effect (as stated on the card). Therefore, tributes of any sort do not count.

* * *

**Lines to Cross**

**Chapter 1  
Pride**

'So, this is the place.'

No observer would think the ruined arch under scrutiny held any value for the one observing it as their tone was low and emotionless. His face too was impassive; nothing in his body revealed the purpose for his arrival. In fact, if one considered the state of his clothes and the worn backpack on his shoulders, they would assume he was simply a student who had a certain disregard for the dorm blazers and was on a hike. Some would even look back to see whether a wave of students, coloured red, yellow and blue were about to arrive thereafter, or were at that moment already milling about the sarcophagi and moss covered stones.

If they did think such a thing, they would be incorrect. There were no students, nor would there be in the foreseeable future. The annual field trip had already taken place earlier that year, and there was a record number of students attending thanks to the legacy left behind.

The boy who stood now in the archway was neither a current student nor a part of that legacy, visiting in nostalgia.

'Looks like it,' the reply came from the earpiece he wore. 'Now to find the –'

The speaker was interrupted as the other stepped forward, a shift in the static weakening the channel through which they were connected.

'Hang on, how do –'

'It's here.' The boy stopped in the grass and gently dropped his backpack before leaning over it to unpack.

'Give me a sec to check.' The other sounded a little annoyed, although that faded into curiosity as the confirmation came through. 'How did you know, Kouichi-kun?'

'I feel it,' Kouichi replied simply, still unpacking the electronics. 'One, ten and thirty metres, right?'

'Right,' came the affirmation, and more static came through the channel as the equipment was set up.

Five minutes later, everything was up and running.

'Now for the hard part,' the other said through the earpiece. 'Especially since it took so long.'

'Yeah.' Kouichi collected the unneeded things and repacked them into his bag. 'The underground would be the –'

'Don't even think about it,' the other snapped immediately. 'That is the most insane idea I've ever heard.' There was a pause, and then: 'Shinya-kun says it's the most insane idea _he's_ ever heard, and he's Takuya-kun's younger brother.'

'I know,' Kouichi responded quietly, although there was little change in the tone and both boys on the other channel had to wonder how much he really cared as to the consequences of the underground.

'Those electrical shocks are no good for your heart,' the elder lectured. 'Especially since yours has been defibrillated. _Please_ stick to the regular tournaments and duellists and stay away from the underground.'

Silence, then the ex-warrior of darkness assented…partially. 'Unless it's necessary.'

'Unless it's _absolutely_ necessary.'

'Sure, Yutaka-sempai.'

Yutaka sighed. 'Well, then I'll –' Whispers Kouichi could not discern. ' – we'll have to hope it won't be necessary.'

The dark-haired boy did not respond to that.

'So you'll be back on the mainland this afternoon? We'll see you tonight?'

'I'm not sure.' Kouichi looked up to the sun. 'There's the regional tournament. It depends on how long I take there.'

'The door's open,' Yutaka said quietly. 'You know that.'

'Thanks.'

'Don't thank me.'

Kouichi couldn't help but smile. 'Thanks anyway.'

* * *

Sho was running late, and therefore he was, understandably, not looking where he was going. It wasn't unexpected then, that he ran headlong into someone, and as that person was taller Sho found himself on the ground.

It was however unexpected that the standing person burst into laughter.

'Ah, Sho!'

Sho blinked, before his face broke into a grin. 'Aniki!' he exclaimed, before frowning at the other. 'You didn't call.' A shake of the head. 'Only you would pop up after six months of no contact when I least expect it.'

Judai grinned sheepishly at him as he offered a hand, pulling the other up when they accepted it. 'I didn't exactly plan on running into you.'

'Literally I might add,' Yubel said from behind the brunet, but only Judai heard.

'Are you coming to the tournament tonight?' Sho asked, heading off again as Judai fell into step behind him. 'I'm doing a little talent-scouting.'

'For the new pro-circuit? How's that coming along?'

'It's coming,' the younger Marufuji brother said, a little thoughtfully but proudly all the same. 'It's a little difficult to get the best duellists in, since they're so used to the old system, but we're getting a lot of new faces with loads of potential and Ni-san couldn't be happier.'

'Sounds great.' Judai nodded. 'How about Edo and Manjyoume?'

'Manjyoume-kun's busy with his brothers again,' Sho replied. 'But Edo-kun's helping promote the pro-circuit on his tour.'

Judai smiled at the informal address. 'And you?'

'Me? I – uh –' Sho suddenly looked at his watch. 'I'm late!'

Judai burst into laughter.

'Don't laugh Aniki!'

* * *

'I'm not going to last a round,' Kouichi muttered under his breath.

Sadly, the earpiece he wore was sensitive enough to pick the words up. 'Don't think like that,' Yutaka advised. 'Remember, a lot of people here probably haven't played a tournament game before.'

'_I_ haven't played a tournament game before.'

'That's true.' There was some scratching noise. 'But relax. You spent months coming up with deck so it could serve both the purposes you need it too. Just trust it now, and do your best.'

'Right.' Kouichi closed his eyes, before opening them and taking the deck out of their holster. 'But –'

'No buts.' That was Shinya. 'Onii-chan and everybody are depending on you!'

'Right.'

'That's not the best confidence booster.' Yutaka again.

'No, it's alright.'

'You sure?'

'Yeah.' Kouichi closed his eyes again. 'I'll last as long as I have to.'

'And then some.'

* * *

Judai took a seat in the stands. From his seat he could see Sho's form behind the frosted glass, and he smiled. The other looked quite confident and sharp, eyes already on the four fields and the eight duellists already there.

He averted his gaze and watched the games play out with interest.

When there were four participants left, the duels were run one at a time and the commentator changed from announcing results to giving a play by play. And those three duels promised to be very interesting; each deck had been displayed throughout the preliminaries, but Judai knew from experience all of them would house secrets yet.

And so he leaned back to watch the first of the semifinal duels.

* * *

Kouichi had, as per the rules, taken his earpiece out before the match and he was starting to wish he hadn't. As much as he rather would not admit it, it was nerve-wracking being on the regional television and possibly making a fool of himself.

Although everything was working, including his deck and the strategies it held, so that was good. And he was glad; he didn't have very many options if he wanted to drag the duels out as long as possible and go through as many cards as he could, and rituals were the riskier option. Still…

He accepted the deck his opponent handed to him and surrendered his own. The woman, two heads taller than him and seemingly more confident, grinned before quickly shuffling and cutting it.

Kouichi did the same and handed the deck back, accepting his own and placing it in its prescribed slot in his duel disk. The disk activated, displaying his beginning score on the screen: 8000LP. His opponent's showed the same.

'The duel between Tanaka Ai and Kimura Kouichi will now begin. Coin toss has decided that Tanaka-chan will go first.'

'Right,' Ai said, flicking her long braid of brown hair away from her duel disk before drawing her sixth card. 'I play a facedown monster and play one facedown card.'

Kouichi drew his sixth card. From the previous battles he knew his opponent played a plant deck, but he also knew it was a tricky one. Still, his own starting hand wasn't a bad one, although it would take a couple of rounds before his own strategy started forming.

'I do the same,' he said, playing a facedown monster and a trap in his spell/trap zone.

Ai grinned and drew her next card. 'I summon Botanical Lion in attack mode, then flip my Nettles into face-up attack mode.' She paused, considering the facedown monster. As far as she knew, her opponent had won his previous duels without the use of any particularly devastating or powerful monsters so she had no idea what to expect.

'Botanical Lion gains 300 attack points for every plant type monster I control,' she said. 'So with two monsters it gains 600 points, and now I'll attack your facedown card with him.'

The monster flipped up to reveal A Cat of Ill Omen, and its 300 defence points were easily defeated.

'I activate A Cat of Ill Omen's flip effect,' Kouichi said, taking his deck out and looking through it. 'I select a trap card and place it on the top of my deck.' After a moment's thought, he pulled out Bad Reaction to Simochi, before shuffling the rest.

'Now Nettles can attack you directly.'

Kouichi's life points dropped to 6800 as he activated his trap. 'I play Numinous Healer. Since I've taken damage to my life points, I can increase them by 1000.' And so his final total was 7800.

'I end my turn,' Ai said.

Kouichi drew his next card without surprise and played it face down, along with two more cards from his hand. Ai's turn came again and she sacrificed her Lonefire Blossom to summon out the level 6 Gigaplant.

'As Gigaplant is a plant type monster, my Botanical Lion still has 2200 attack points.' They did not pale much in the face of Gigaplant's 2400, and together they made a powerful team for only the fifth turn of the match. 'Now I attack you directly with Gigaplant.'

'I activate Draining Shield,' Kouichi countered, selecting the facedown to the far right and playing it. 'I negate your attack and gain life points equal to your monster's attack points.

His life points rose to 10200.

'There's still Botanical Lion,' the brunette said, still keeping a careful watch. She knew the other's ace card, and she wasn't about to let it play. If in return she had to let the other's life points rise, then so be it.

'I play Wall of Revealing Light and sacrifice 4000 life points.'

'You what?!'

'A clever play,' the commentator announced. 'That continuous trap is going to stop any monster with less than 4000 attack points from attacking, and we all know how rare monsters that strong are.'

Kouichi's life points dropped to 8200 as Ai added a facedown to her field before ending her turn.

Kouichi drew another card before triggering his final facedown: his ace, Bad Reaction to Simochi.

But Ai had been prepared for that. 'I play Pollinosis,' she said. 'I tribute my Botanical Lion to destroy your Bad Reaction to Simochi.'

* * *

'I'm almost glad to see that trap go,' Yubel commented. 'It's a tough one to fight against.'

'True,' Judai said thoughtfully. 'But there's cards in that deck that would increase the opponent's life points without that trap. I wonder how Kimura plans to counter that.'

'He dealt with Royal Decree,' the spirit reminded.

'Somehow I don't think Mystical Space Typhoon is going to be enough here.'

* * *

Kouichi would up playing nothing else that turn for he didn't want his spells backfiring on him. Luckily, Wall of Revealing Light was still out, although there were cards that could put it out of commission. The odds were slim however, and he turned out to be right as Ai simply played The World Tree continuous spell before activating Gigaplant's ability to summon Nettles from her graveyard.

'I still have my normal summon,' she continued. 'So I play Lonefire Blossom in attack mode, and then use her ability to sacrifice Nettles to special summon a monster from my deck.' She paused for a moment as she went through her deck. 'I choose Twilight Rose Knight, and her special ability makes it so you cannot select a plant type monster as an attack target.'

_That will save my monsters if he uses __Monster Reborn__,_ she thought with satisfaction. She still had to get around Wall of Revealing Light, but she had made a good start.

'My turn then.' Kouichi drew a card. 'I activate Pot of Benevolence. I select A Cat of Ill Omen and Bad Reaction to Simochi from my graveyard and shuffle them into my deck before removing Pot of Benevolence from play.'

He ended his turn at that point, and Ai took her next turn. 'I sacrifice Lonefire Blossom and Twilight Rose Knight to tribute summon Tytannial, Princess of Camellias.'

Unfortunately, 2800 attack points would not get past Wall of Revealing Light. However, it would protect her masters, particularly since she still had Gigaplant's ability, which she used to summon Twilight Rose Knight from her graveyard.

'I play a facedown,' she finished. 'And end my turn.'

Kouichi drew his next card and played it facedown. Ai took her next turn. 'I summon Gigantic Cephalotus in attack mode, and then I activate Gigaplant's ability to summon Lonefire Blossom from my graveyard.'

With no other cards in her hand, she could do nothing else but end her turn, and so Kouichi took his next turn.

'I activate Bad Reaction to Simochi,' he said, revealing the facedown.

'Again?' Ai groaned. Sadly, her remaining facedown could not counter it. Still, that suggested he must have more than one copy of the trap, as the odds of drawing it after shuffling it into his deck were extremely slim.

Kouichi played a card from his hand. 'Upstart Goblin: I draw a card and you, when chained to Bad Reaction to Simochi, lose 1000 life points.'

Ai's life points dropped to 7000.

Kouichi played the drawn card facedown as well as another, leaving his hand with two cards remaining and both ones he couldn't use at the current time – and not because he was down to one unoccupied spell/trap zone.

Ai had the opposite problem. She now had five monsters out; the maximum number. But she had Lonefire Blossom as one of them, and beyond that she had a spell in her hand and a trap on the field.

'I play Fragrance Storm,' she said, revealing the card she had drawn. 'And I destroy Twilight Rose Knight to draw a card from my deck.' She drew and revealed it to be Fairy King Truesdale. 'And since it's a plant type monster, I can draw another card. And since I destroyed a monster, I get to place a counter on The World Tree and my Gigantic Cephalotus gains 200 attack points.'

She was still a far cry from the 4000 she needed, but she had a card that could help her.

'Next I summon back my Twilight Rose Knight from the graveyard using Gigaplant's ability, then sacrifice her for Lonefire Blossom to summon Lord Poison from my deck. Next up, I'll tribute Lord Poison to summon from my hand Fairy King Truesdale, and his special ability gives all my plant type monsters a 500 attack point boost when it's in defence mode.'

Sadly she could only tribute summon in attack mode, so she would have to wait until her next turn.

'Turn end.'

Kouichi drew his next card and played it. 'Rain of Mercy. Both players gain 1000 life points.'

'Or I lose,' the brunette corrected as her life points dropped to 6000. She really had to get rid of that trap, and soon.

Kouichi ended his turn again, and Ai took her next, immediately switching Fairy King Truesdale to defence mode and raising her strongest monster, currently her Tytannial, Princess of Camellias, to 3300 attack points.

'I equip Axe of Despair to Tytannial, Princess of Camellias and raise her attack strength by 1000, and now that her total strength is 4300, she can bypass your Wall of Revealing Light and attack you directly.'

Unfortunately, Kouichi revealed one of his facedown cards. Sakuretsu Armour. And despite having a saving ability at her disposal, Ai let the trap take effect. After all, her princess was a small price to pay for another counter for The World Tree, and with two counters she could remove them both and destroy a card on the field.

So now was the decision. 'Wall of Revealing Light or Bad Reaction to Simochi,' she said thoughtfully. She was tempted to go for the latter as she knew from watching previous duels that it was her opponent's ace, however that wall was causing her more pains at the current time, and there was the benefit of her opponent only having summoned one monster throughout the duel. 'I destroy Wall of Revealing Light.'

'I play Shift,' Kouichi countered, revealing his remaining facedown. 'I select Bad Reaction of Simochi as your new target.'

* * *

Yutaka was watching the duel from his apartment. Prototypes of various machines were scattered about; somebody who knew him years ago would have been surprised at the clatter, but that was more his parents' credit than his own. He just wasn't a meticulously organised person, and it wasn't odd to find him looking over blueprints while the television was running a footy show.

Only he was watching the tournament Shinya and Kouichi had both told him about, and he was wondering more as to his friend's (more his brother's friend than his own, but they were friends nonetheless) intentions by purposely destroying his ace card. Granted, he had two more copies and only the one of Wall of Revealing Light; Yutaka himself had double-checked the tournament rulings to make sure that indeed only one copy per deck was allowed.

And of course that would cause his opponent to play even more cards to counteract that. It really was too bad Mirror Force was out of commission with Tytannial, Princess of Camellias and her ability. A clean field would take a while to rebuilt, and she had swarmed quite quickly.

But Kouichi was really doing a good job, and some of that even Yutaka wouldn't have been able to come up with on his toes. He had to admit the kid was something else. He hadn't been at all sure Kouichi could pull it off when the other had first approached him, but he had been so determined Yutaka couldn't help but assist – and he was worried the other would have done something dangerous if he didn't.

Not to mention that suggestion about the underground…and he had been sure Kouichi would have been more reasonable at that stage.

He watched the rest silently, watched the battle of wits and patience. Tanaka Ai was coming forward; she'd rendered the most cards in Kouichi's deck useless than anyone, and if she managed to disable his combinations, she would have come the furthest in defeating him.

The next question was how hard Kouichi would fight back. Delay the inevitable until he was out of options for a delay and the duel tethered on a single card? Or would he throw his utmost into the match and put his pride alongside hers?

Because all those duellists were proud. All of them were looking for the small prestige that would come with victory. And all of them knew a talent scout was in the crowd, and all of them were looking for that recognition.

Well…all of them, except maybe ones like Kouichi who had alternate agendas.

The green cursor blinked and crawled slightly up as three cards went to the graveyard. But still, it was a far cry to what was needed.

He looked at the device matching the one in Kouichi's duel-disk. Sadly, it was near impossible to get opponents to wear them in a professional tournament.

* * *

'Interesting,' Ai said thoughtfully. 'I wonder, why that one?'

She shrugged. 'I sacrifice Lonefire Blossom to return Axe of Despair to my hand, and then I end my turn.'

Kouichi took his next, drawing Graceful Charity and discarding the two ritual monsters he could, at that moment, do nothing with. Nor did he want to; those cards were for a last ditch effort and the duel was far too young for that. The new cards in his hand were far better, and he played two of them all facedown: a spell/trap and a monster.

Ai drew a new card, looking at the three and piercing half-existing strategies together. 'I –' She began, before Kouichi interrupted.

'I play The Eye of Truth.'

Ai blinked, then showed her hand, her life points increasing to 7000 with the presence of two spell cards. That spoke against the other's choice of traps…but that wasn't really her problem. After all, she was duelling to win.

'I use Gigaplant's ability,' she started again, 'to summon Tytannial, Princess of Camellias from my graveyard, and then I activate Magical Stone Excavation to discard Twilight Rose Knight and Axe of Despair to return Fragrance Storm to my hand, then sacrifice Gigantic Cephalotus to draw a card from my deck and place a spell counter on The World Tree. Furthermore, since I drew Revival Rose, I get to draw an additional card.'

She drew a second copy of Fragrance Storm, and she summoned out her Revival Rose to sacrifice it and draw Rigorous Reaver and an additional card when she played facedown.

'With two counters, I can destroy your Wall of Revealing Light,' she stated again, eyeing the three facedowns on the other's field. The odds of having another Shift were extremely slim though, and it turned out Kouichi had nothing to prevent the destruction of his trap.

'That leaves my monsters free to attack,' she stated, only to stop as her opponent revealed Threatening Roar and making sure she could not attack that turn. 'I end.'

'I flip summon my A Cat of Ill Omen,' Kouichi said, not looking at the card he drew until after that play. 'I select a trap and place it at the top of my deck, and then I play Pot of Greed, then Dark World Dealings, so we each draw a card and discard one.'

Ai had a monster and an equip spell she couldn't really use, and so she discarded the one she drew, Mark of the Rose. Koichi however had a little more flexibility with two cards already in his hand, and it was one of those he discarded. Mirror Force.

So the trap he selected went facedown, thus ending his turn.

Ai only drew her next card before it was revealed though, and predictably it was Bad Reaction to Simochi, which leached her of 1000 points as she drew and revealed the field spell Forest, leaving her with 6000 once again as she activated it.

'I use Gigaplant's ability to summon Gigantic Cephalotus from my graveyard, and then I use him to attack your cat.'

This time the attack went through, and Kouichi's life points dropped to 7150.

'I play a second copy of Numinous Healer,' Kouichi said at the end of the attack. 'I gain 1500 life points, 1000 from its first effect and 500 from the additional copy in my graveyard.'

His points rose to stabilise at 8650.

'My remaining monsters can still attack,' Ai pointed out. However, her next attack was thwarted with Swift Scarecrow and that ended her battle phase. 'Urgh, I end my turn.'

'My turn then.' Kouichi drew a card which he immediately played face-down.

Ai drew her next card – then grinned before revealing it. With no spell cards, she took no damage during her standby phase. 'I use Gigaplant's ability to summon Revival Rose from my graveyard, and then I sacrifice Fairy King Truesdale, Gigantic Cephalotus and Revival Rose to summon out Beast King Barbaros.'

It was a surprise for all watching to see the beast warrior, but what was more surprising was his ability. 'By tributing three monsters, I can destroy all cards on your field.'

But Kouichi played Emergency Provisions before that, sacrificing the two traps in play and gaining 2000 life points.

But the triple attack from Beast King Barbaros, Gigaplant and Tytannial, Princess of Camellias lowered his life points to 1850, leaving him with an empty field and an empty hand.

* * *

'You seem interested in this duel,' Yubel said. 'And I don't mean by it finally going somewhere.'

'You do have a point,' Judai said out of the corner of his mouth, eyes on the field although he could see shadows of people whispering and moving to closer attention. It seemed the slow pace had thoroughly distracted many of the spectators. 'But if you look closely, it's an interesting match.'

'I can see a lot of people disagreeing with you,' the spirit said dryly.

'Most of which are watching from home,' Judai pointed out, and he was correct. After all, those who payed money to watch a tournament generally had more appreciation for its subtle art. 'But it seems to me that Kimura is forcing his opponent to use as many cards from her deck as possible.'

'Except he's running out of cards to do it with.'

'Oh, I don't think so.' And Judai pointed to the field, where Ai's next barrage of attacks was blocked by Negate Attack.

Yubel raised an eyebrow.

Judai shrugged. 'He would need a lot of cards to block attacks with a deck that can't have more than ten monsters.'

'Are you sure about that?' Yubel's voice had the air of one knowing exactly how many monsters the other had.

'No,' the brunet responded. 'But he's played at least twenty different trap cards, and that's not counting repeats. His deck doesn't look like it contains more than fifty cards, and if you count the spell cards he uses…'

'You're forgetting the side deck,' Yubel said in amusement. 'And I think we'll see more of his monsters if he gets past this round and into the final match.'

'Yeah, you're probably right. Trap cards aren't much use against Jinzo.'

Yubel decided not to tell her partner that he had miscounted.

* * *

Kouichi managed to get past his next turn with Negate Attack and the one after with One Day of Peace. It wasn't until the turn after that he managed something more fruitful, playing a facedown monster and a trap facedown, leaving his hand empty once more.

Ai drew and used her Gigaplant's ability to bring back Fairy King Truesdale in defence mode, raising the power of her plants.

'Next I activate Fairy Meteor Crush and equip it to Beast King Barbaros.' She crossed her arms. 'You can't stall forever.'

Kouichi said nothing, seeing as he technically had been planning to stall indefinitely.

'I attack your facedown monster.'

It flipped up to reveal Dark Cat with White Tail; a surprise as it sent Gigaplant and Tytannial, Princess of Camellias to her hand with its effect, as well as returning itself to Kouichi's hand.

'Your field's still open,' Ai noted, although the facedown was a bit of a problem. Although the odds of it being destructive were slim.

'Mirror Force,' Kouichi replied, revealing his trap to be the second and final copy of the destructive trap and leaving her field with only Fairy King Truesdale in defence mode.

'I get a counter for The World Tree,' she said, frowning a little as she moved into her second main phase. As much as she hated to admit it, she hadn't seen that play coming in the least. 'I play Trade-In, discarding Tytannial, Princess of Camellias to draw two cards from my deck.'

Her Fairy Meteor Crush had also been taken out, but she had two facedown cards and The World Tree still. Sadly, it seemed like Wall of Thorns would be walking through, as the other was yet to attack him and the three monsters he had so far played were purely defence. Although she _should_ have played Plant Food Chain when she had the chance.

She just added an additional facedown and ended her turn.

Kouichi drew a card and played his cat in facedown defence mode once more before playing Mystical Space Typhoon. As The World Tree went to the graveyard, Ai once again cursed her misstep. Although, as Tytannial, Princess of Camellias had not been in the graveyard when Mirror Force had been played, it would not have helped in _that_ situation.

And attacking wouldn't help her in the next turn, as the special ability would just bounce back to her again.

'Not necessarily…' she murmured to herself. 'I only have one monster out.' She thought for a moment, and realising that in fact Dark Cat with White Tail could not target her field with only one monster, she switched Fairy King Truesdale to attack mode and equipped him with Plant Food Chain. While it wouldn't assist against a defence position monster with only 500 defence points.

She found herself feeling apprehensive when the facedown was not triggered against her attack. Still, she set a monster and then ended her turn at that point, waiting for the other to draw and play his next move.

Surprisingly, he looked at his card and did nothing, deferring to her once again. She drew, before setting a second monster and flipping up Rigorous Reaver, forcing them both to discard a card (and in Kouichi's case, his only card). However, the play backfired on her as the card he discarded turned out to be The Fabled Catsith, and he took out her Rigourous Reaver as a reward.

She wondered to that, until she attacked directly with Fairy King Truesdale and bumped into Bubble Bringer, an odd addition to a deck that contained beast types. After all, it was a water support card, but one could also argue it was a great stall and of benefit to a life draining deck.

Perhaps somebody should rename it a life-ebbing deck, as it seemed to be taking that long. But if it meant level four and higher monsters could not attack…

She ended her turn.

Kouichi took his next turn, once again playing One Day of Peace and drawing an additional card which went facedown.

Ai's next draw yielded Fallen Angel of Roses, so all she could do was set another monster and end her turn.

Kouichi drew another card, before playing a second copy of Dark World Dealings and ending his turn at that point.

Ai drew again, drawing Pot of Avarice which she immediately used, returning two Lonefire Blossoms, Twilight Rose Knight, Botanical Lion and Lord Poison to her deck before drawing two cards. Pleased to see she had managed to draw another The World Tree, she immediately triggered it, to use a second copy of Fragrance Storm to destroy her Fairy King Truesdale to draw Lord Poison, then an additional card, from her deck. One counter gained, but unfortunately she still didn't have anything under level four and with enough bite to not risk a counter strike. In the end, she sacrificed both facedown monsters to summon out Gigaplant, before using its ability to summon Rigorous Reaver in attack mode.

That attack dropped Kouichi's life points to 50.

* * *

Shinya knew, just knew, that if he had been in Kouichi's position, he would have used that facedown already. He had a feeling it could only be one of a select number of cards. Trap Hole, or something to prevent battle damage. Both Mirror Force's were in the graveyard. Wall of Revealing Light was in the graveyard. Bubble Bringer was already out, and Spirit Barrier was completely useless in this situation…although he supposed it didn't stop the card being face-down.

Still, he couldn't help but feel a tad apprehensive. He knew that the longer the duel went, the better, and he also knew he couldn't have kept the duel going for that long – and he was below the age limit and therefore not even able to legally participate.

Still, he wished he could do more. After all, his brother was in the same situation as Kouichi's and Yutaka's, but in his position he could do little more except watch and bite his lip as Kouichi took his next turn.

They'd played together while Yutaka worked with the equipment, but even then Kouichi was helping with it. He might have known very little about electronics, but he had a fountain of information about physics and the various theories from books he often read and those were a big help.

All Shinya could do was help build the deck. He couldn't even grasp the art of duelling that well. The only reason he knew Kouichi's deck was because he'd seen it so many times.

But he could still be proud as he watched the television, as neither of the two elder boys had thought of that regional championship until he had found the flier and showed it to them. Yutaka had been relieved – and he didn't find out _why_ until Kouichi's comment days later.

Even if it made him feel like the baby in elder company, he could at least be of some assistance. And hopefully he'd get better, and be able to help more.

* * *

Kouichi's next turn summoned out Cardcar-D, which he immediately sacrificed to draw to cards and end his turn. Ai drew her next, before activating her second and final copy of Magical Stone Excavation to return Fragrance Storm to her hand, discarding Cherry Inmato and Botanical Lion. She then summoned out Lord Poison before using Fragrance Storm to destroy it and draw.

'I use Lord Poison's ability to summon Beast King Barbaros from my graveyard,' the brunette said. 'And with two counters on The World Tree, I remove them both to destroy Bubble Bringer.'

From the point of view of the spectators, Kouichi's last defence was gone. However, he still had a facedown which he activated against Beast King Barbaros' attack, discarding a second The Fabled Catsith for Rainbow Life's effect, accomplishing the destruction of Gigaplant and the accumulation of 3000 life points.

Ai, not wanting to add to that increase with the Tytannial, Princess of Camellias she had summoned due to Gigaplant's ability, ended her turn.

Kouichi's next turn finally showed what he had been planning, as he summoned out his first attack position monster: Raging Flame Sprite.

'Raging Flame Sprite can attack the opponent directly,' Kouichi explained. 'And each time it successfully completes that attack, it gains 1000 attack points.'

And Ai found herself a little vexed that her Wall of Thorns was _still_ useless. It would be her luck to wind up with a rather unusual opponent. She was starting to wish she had put Royal Decree into her deck after all. The problem with traps like those though was that it affected _both_ players' ability to play other trap cards.

Still, at least she only too 100 points of damage, leaving her with a strong 5900 compared to Kouichi's 3050. And all monsters on her field were still strong enough to take down Raging Flame Sprite's 1100 attack points.

Two turns and a Waboku and Thundering Roar later, she asked herself how she didn't see it coming. Her life points were down to 2700 and Raging Flame Sprite now had 3100 attack points. One more turn would finish her life points and most of her cards were geared towards defending her monsters and swarming fields, not protecting herself from direct attacks.

Thankfully, she had managed to draw and play face-down Magic Cylinder. So now it all depended on Kouichi's next play as to who won the duel.

There would be no more stalling. And if he didn't attack, she would force him to.


	2. Chapter 2: Envy

**A/N:** The start of this duel just summarises what happened at the end of the last duel.

And sorry for not posting it up earlier. Forgot I hadn't finished all the chapters after all. I had the first and the last so I assumed I had everything in between. :)

* * *

**Lines to Cross**

**Chapter 2  
Envy**

Kouichi all but collapsed on the bench as the second semi-final duel progressed. Barrel Behind the Door wasn't a card that was often needed, but he kept it for those odd circumstances and that was what gave him the victory over Tanaka Ai. It had been a very interesting duel; he may have been pushing Ai into playing more cards than she would normally have, but inversely she was doing the same. She'd managed to destroy Bad Reaction to Simochi three times after all, even if, thanks to Pot of Benevolence, he had a third copy still in the remaining few cards of his deck.

It was a good thing though he had swapped out some of his smaller damage-dealing spells for his monsters. But as he watched the next duel progress, he swapped those for some of his trap cards so there was an overall more even balance between the two card types.

He also had Dark Hole. He'd be needing that against Jinzo.

* * *

Yutaka waited for a few minutes after the match ended, and once the second semi-final match had begun he entered Kouichi's serial code into the computer and put the earpiece in his ear.

After a moment, Kouichi responded.

'Nice duel,' Yutaka commented. 'Although I was wondering what you were planning when you purposely destroyed Bad Reaction to Simochi.'

'I was thinking it would be even harder to get past Wall of Revealing Light,' came the reply.

'You did cut it rather fine with Raging Flame Sprite though.'

'I wasn't – ' Kouichi paused. 'Okay, maybe I was…'

'Not cutting it fine?'

'I meant to say I wasn't trying to win,' the other responded sheepishly. 'But I was, truthfully.'

'Of course you were,' the elder said. 'It's a hard thing, trying to lose. And you had absolutely no reason to do it.'

Silence greeted him, until Kouichi finally spoke. His words though sounded a little strained. 'It's not black and white.'

'No, it's not,' the other agreed.

'I wish I was still a kid.' A pause. 'I wish I was still an infant. Things were perfect then.'

'You don't remember.'

'No.' He didn't need to go on though. _At least my family was together then. At least they were all there._

'It's over,' Yutaka said suddenly, looking at the TV screen.

'Who won?'

'The guy with the Spellcaster deck.'

'Hmm…' Kouichi pulled his deck out and scanned it. He knew the deck he would be versing next had Secret Village of the Spellcasters, but the only Spellcaster he had was Copycat. Somehow, he'd felt attracted to the cat theme and they really were useful cards if you weren't going for the direct assault. He had a few oddballs beyond that: Marshmelon and Raging Flame Sprite and Sangan, but the rest of his monsters were cats.

And he had three cards he hoped he never had to use in a duel, but he shuffled them in as well. He would be needing a strong monster in a duel where his spells _and_ traps could wind up on the sidelines.

* * *

'And the final match of this exciting tournament has finally come.'

Sho rubbed his eyes a little; in his view, the announcer was exaggerating just a bit. After all, it was a regional championship, not a part of the pro league which had far more prestige. Most duellists here were young and aspiring, aiming for the higher tiers and the big win.

And since everyone seemed so evenly placed, the duels went for longer than one would see in the pro league. The first duel of the semifinal especially had been gruellingly long.

And he had taken pages of notes on all the duellists as well. His hand was getting sore from the writing, so in a way he was relieved that only one duel remained.

Although he could not deny the varieties of duellists and duels that had been showcased, and the mounds of potential shown.

* * *

Hisagaya Taro had watched his opponent duel his way up to the finals, and he was fairly confident a win would be easy. He relied very little on monsters, and he had not played a Spellcaster throughout the tournament. Without that he would not be able to play spells once the field spell was active, and he was depending on his two copies of Royal Decree or Jinzo, the only non-spellcaster in his deck, to block the traps.

He was sure it would be an easy win. If he drew a good hand, all the better.

Luckily though, fate appeared to be on Kouichi's side as his hand wasn't that which he hoped. Still, he had enough cards to cause trouble and he played Demise of the Land and Pitch Black Power Grasp facedown and Breaker, The Magical Warrior in attack mode with a spell counter and an additional 300 attack points.

Kouichi took his next turn, and played three traps facedown.

Taro's next draw was more appealing, but he had to wait as Kouichi revealed Bad Reaction to Simochi and The Eye of Truth. With Emergency Provisions in his hand, he lost 1000 of his life points, however he had drawn Jinzo and therefore he sacrificed his warrior to summon him immediately, using Emergency Provisions to gain an additional 1000 attack points as well as sending a useless trap to the graveyard.

'I highly doubt your third facedown can stop my attack,' he commented dryly to his opponent, and he was correct as the attack left Kouichi with no traps at his disposal and 5600 life points.

Kouichi drew a card and activated Dark World Dealings, discarding The Fabled Catsith to draw an additional card and destroy Jinzo as well.

Unfortunately for him, Taro drew Monster Reborn, so an additional 1000 points of damage was well worth the opportunity to bring back Jinzo and put a stop to the traps once more.

But it was still Kouichi's turn, and he played a monster in defence mode before ending his turn.

The next turn left Taro with 6000 life points and Jinzo once again on his field. For his normal summon he set a monster on the field before attacking the face-down monster. And when Sangan went to the grave and brought Dark Cat with White Tail to Kouichi's hand, he used The Shallow Grave to summon Breaker, the Magical Warrior to his field and Sangan to Kouichi's in face-down defence mode. And that gave him the perfect opportunity to activate Demise of the Land and play his field spell: Secret Village of the Spellcasters.

* * *

Shinya blinked at the field spell. From his seat, it looked like an extremely risky move. After all, there were monsters that could be normal or special summoned without sacrifices and could defeat 1600 attack points in a fight. And even with a deck packed with Spellcasters, one could not guarantee he would always have a monster out…especially if the other had Spellcasters in his own deck.

Even Kouichi's deck, which wasn't geared for frontal assaults, had a monster strong enough to get past the most common walls.

To him, the play looked like a serious breach of over-confidence. After all, there was only so many times one could resurrect cards from the graveyard. There was probably far more ways to send them there.

* * *

Kouichi, despite being unaware of Shinya's thoughts at that moment, was disagreeing with them. He hadn't expected Demise of the Land, and if he had, he wouldn't have expected to be forced into special summoning a monster onto his field.

That left him with far fewer opportunities than he would like, and for his next turn all he could do was set a monster.

Taro was more productive, flipping Breaker, the Magical Warrior into attack mode and using Spell Power Grasp to give it a spell counter, raising its attack points by 300 and giving it the potential to destroy a spell or trap on the field.

'Spell Power Grasp also allows me to obtain another copy of it from my deck,' he explained as he peered through the cards. 'However, I cannot activate it this turn. It doesn't matter though, as I chose to remove the counter from Breaker, the Magical Warrior and destroy your face-down card.

It was Threatening Roar, but it was always best to be safe as opposed to sorry.

'Next I activate Shield Crush, targetting the facedown monster you played last turn.'

That turned out to be, as expected, Dark Cat With White Tail. And since it was destroyed by an effect and not targeted by battle, its flip effect failed to activate.

There was a smirk playing on Taro's lips as he attacked Sangan, and without looking at what monster the other chose to add to his hand, he attacked directly with Jinzo.

Kouichi's lifepoints dropped to 3200. And he was seriously low on options.

He looked at the monster he had taken as he drew his next card. Marshmelon would stall, but for how long? He had little choice however, and played the monster facedown before ending his turn.

Taro, predictably, attacked the Marshmelon and the damage rebounded, leaving him with 5000 life points. Sadly, Kouichi couldn't flip his monster facedown again, although luckily the effect of it being unable to be destroyed in battle still persisted. In the meantime, Taro set another monster and ended his turn.

The next few turns progressed much the same way, until Kouichi's hand had reached the limit and he was forced to discard a card at his end phase. The card happened to be The Fabled Catsith, which worked to his advantage as he destroyed Secret Village of the Spellcasters.

It was unfortunate for him that Taro managed to draw Magical Stone Excavation and resurrect it. It was also unfortunate he flipped over Old Vindicative Magician in the same turn, dispatching of his last line of defence. However, Kouichi had snuck in a spell card during his opponent's main phase: One Day of Peace, so his points were safe until the next turn.

And by some stroke of luck, he managed to draw the only Spellcaster in his deck.

He took a deep breath before beginning what could well wind up being his last turn. 'I summon Copycat in attack mode,' he said. 'And using its special ability, I target Jinzo and Copycat attack and defence points equal its original strength.'

'Copycat is a Spellcaster,' Taro noted, with a hint of worry in his tone. His deck wasn't exactly equipped to deal with repeated battering upon his ace cards. And he hadn't been counting on the kid having a Spellcaster in and amidst the beasts and a couple of Pyro types.

'Yes,' Kouichi nodded. 'Which means I can use spell cards for this turn.' He played his first, Swords of Concealing Light which flipped every monster on his opponent's field face-down. That negated Jinzo's ability and prevented Taro from using spell cards, something Kouichi intended to take full advantage of.

'Next, I play Upstart Goblin, so I draw a card and you, thanks to Bad Reaction to Simochi no longer being negated, lose 1000 life points.'

Taro's life points dropped to 5000.

Kouichi drew a card and played a second copy of the same, drawing another card and dealing another 1000 points of damage to his opponent. And that card was exactly what he needed…or at least he hoped.

'I activate End of the World,' he said. 'I discard Demise, King of Armageddon to summon Ruin, Queen of Oblivion.'

'2300 attack points?' Somehow, he had expected worse. However, the ability was trouble. And so was Copycat. Between them, they could take out three of his monsters.

Luckily, he had four. Unluckily (for him), Apprentice Magician, the only card actually useful in the graveyard, was the one left on the field.

And now The Eye of Truth was active as well, so Trap Booster would cost him an additional 1000 points.

However, he had Call of the Haunted in his hand. And Copycat's attack and defence points would return to zero in the end phase.

'I play two cards facedown,' Kouichi said, ending his turn.

Taro drew and lost a thousand points, leaving him with 3000 and losing his lead by a mere 200. It mattered not though…he hoped.

'I summon Magician's Valkariya in attack mode,' he said. 'And since she's a Spellcaster, I can use spells again. Like Trap Booster, who allows me to play a trap from my hand if I discard a card. So I discard Magician's Circle to activate Call of the Haunted, and –'

'I play Dark Bribe,' Kouichi interrupted. 'Against Call of the Haunted. So you draw a card but your trap is negated.'

Taro drew, and let out a breath. 'I drew Mystical Space Typhoon,' he said quietly, 'and with your Swords of Concealing Light gone, what's left protecting your Copycat?'

'1800 attack points won't be enough to finish my life points,' Kouichi pointed out, although he was apprehensive.

'No,' Taro agreed. 'But I flip summon Apprentice Magician and then sacrifice him to summon out Blizzard Princess. And I'll also equip her with United We Stand, which gives her 800 additional attack and defence points for each monster I control. _And_, due to Blizzard Princess' effect, you cannot activate spells or traps this turn, so that remaining facedown of yours is now useless.'

He paused for a moment as if to savour it – or perhaps due to relief – before ordering Blizzard Princess to attack Copycat. With no attack points to act as a shield, Kouichi's life points took the full brunt of the attack, and 4400 attack points were more than his life points could withstand.

And just like that, the night came to an end.

* * *

Sho hurried through the crowd, trying to find Judai. He noticed the participant duellists milling around, some showing poor sportsmanship but most of them exchanging pleasantries with the calm fire of rivalry. While many could grudge a winner on his position – and some could argue it was _their _rightful place save for misfortune in the pairings – they could also recognise that luck could not carry somebody to the winning podium and be worth more than a material trophy.

Judai was away from those duellists, waiting patiently outside for him in the shadow of the open door.

'Do you have a place to stay?' he panted. 'You can crash at our apartment, and Ni-san will be happy to see you too. Unless – oh, you've probably –'

Judai held out his hand to stop the other. 'I'd love to stay,' he said, rubbing the back of his head with his free hand. 'And to be honest, we just crash where we can.'

'Still, Yubel reprimanded. 'It wouldn't hurt for you to start planning a little.'

'I plan when I need to,' the brunet dismissed, and Sho, unable to see Duel Spirits, simply stared blankly at his friend.

'Yubel,' Judai said by way of explanation.

'Ah…' Frankly, Sho had no idea what to say to that.

* * *

'You were great,' Yutaka's voice said quietly in the earpiece.

'Hmm,' was the non-committal response from Kouichi.

'Are you disappointed you lost?' His tone was sympathetic, but also a tad confused. 'You lasted longer than anyone would have expected with a deck like yours.'

'True,' Kouichi admitted. 'But he pushed me into a situation where I couldn't use my cards the way I wanted to, and it was…a little frustrating.'

'And..?' Yutaka prompted.

'And I _am_ disappointed I lost, but in a way I'm relieved as well.'

'Oh, why?' There was confusion and curiosity laced in the tone.

'A few reasons I suppose.' The dark haired boy sighed into the silence of the night. He'd long since left the crowd at the arena behind; he wasn't like them, trying to be the best by using what they loved. Now the dim stars in the sky and the wayward leaves blown away by the late spring breeze were his only physical company in the deserted park. 'Because I lost, I don't need to think about what would have come with winning. Like taking that away from somebody who truly wanted it, not somebody who won for the sake of winning at best.'

'I suppose that makes sense,' Yutaka said quietly. 'Some of those duellists seemed really passionate…and disappointed they lost.'

'Yeah.' Kouichi paused, considering the rest of his reasons.

'That's not all,' Yutaka prompted.

'No,' the other admitted. 'It's also…' He sighed again.

'You get older when you sigh.'

'Being an adult beats being a teen at this stage,' Kouichi pointed out.

'I suppose you're right about that.' There was no point continuing on with that topic; they'd managed to argue once over it, but quite frankly Yutaka would have probably done the same. It was only because he was in a position where he could help his little brother (or so he hoped) _without_ giving up anything that he could attempt to convince the other to not give up things of their own. Shinya was easier; he couldn't legally leave school, but Kouichi was sixteen and free to do what he pleased for the most part. So the only people who could stop him from quitting school and alternating between working to support himself and working to get his brother and friends back were his parents. Except they understood the need and allowed him to try, helping where they could.

In all honesty, he didn't need to work part-time; his father was more than willing to provide and he had the funds to do it with. But Kouichi had pointed out that he needed something productive to do, and with holding down no stable job it was pretty easy for him to alter his schedule when needed. Like the day Yutaka had finally managed to get an approved prototype of the system they needed, a modified version of one that had been tested at Duel Academia three years ago. _Heavily_ modified rather, as the original and only pair-version had been destroyed in attempting to open up the dimensional portal. They'd managed too, but only a small portal. Not nearly big enough for what they would need.

It took years to build up an improved model…and then Duel Academia, after the disasters they'd had with alternate dimensions, refused to assist with the next stage of testing and they'd had to find alternate arrangements. The other branches were also adamant; Amon Graham was still missing, and Austin O'Brien, Johan Anderson and Jim Cook all remembered their own experiences, and their Academies had no interest in putting their remaining students to the same risk, even if the scientists of Kaiba corp. were sure the duel energies weren't nearly as strong in the East and North branches as to be a problem.

The American branch of Duel Academia had also been reluctant, and they had just about given up and begun talking about enlisting the public in an exhibition test when they agreed to host a pair of the machines and test the duelling system far-range.

Fortunately, it was a complete success and they had been able to move on from that. Yutaka, for his part, had branched out at that point, attempting to manufacture a far more portable and enduring system which had only recently become fully operational. He still wasn't sure it was perfect; they still needed to go through the third stage of trials, but Kouichi was sure there was no time for that. How, Yutaka didn't exactly now. He was a scientist after all, and he found it difficult to believe in things like destiny and bonds and things outside the norm, but Kouichi was an exception to many rules it appeared. He'd been clinically dead for eight minutes before being revived and completely healthy after all. And the Doctor and Nurses present at the time could swear they had seen something glowing on his forehead, within his brother's tear, before his heart began beating again.

And really, how else could they explain the disappearance of five children in the middle of the day from rooms locked from the inside? Albeit not all of them had been in the same situation, but he knew _his_ brother had been changing into a yukata for the festival downtown and Shinya has said his own had been in the shower stalls after a soccer practice. Kouichi couldn't say as he hadn't been with his twin at the time, however it was he who had been sure the Digital World had something to do with it because his D-scanner had reacted at the same time.

It had taken months just to confirm that, during the testing of the new and improved prototype. The dimensional portal, still small and barely any use, had been enough to use the strange other-worldly device to get a transmission true, and it was only when he received a reply did Yutaka actually believe the wild story.

Upon further consideration, he wondered if he would have been more inclined to believe it had Tomoki been the one to tell him. It really did explain that life-changing twenty minutes though as well as the famous power-flux, but it also defied a great deal of other things. What sort of world was it, after all, where children were the ones who had to hold it up and fight while adults were useless?

But that was the sort of thing that helped one discover themselves, and seeing how Tomoki had grown from it he half wished he had been younger.

But time didn't turn back.

'You still shouldn't…'

'Huh?'

Apparently, he had been silent too long.

'You should get some sleep,' Kouichi said softly.

'So should you,' Yutaka retorted. 'And I've pulled all-nighters before.'

'The night's quiet,' the ex-warrior of darkness said. 'I feel like I want to stay out a bit, but at the same time not.'

He tapped the seat's leg lightly.

'It's a wonder you made it through junior high school,' Yutaka commented with some forced lightness. 'Considering how late you always go to bed.' He stifled a yawn as he spoke.

'Go to sleep,' Kouichi advised. 'It's hard for me to sleep at this time, but I can always sleep later.'

'Make sure you actually do sleep later.' The elder paused. 'What are you going to do now then?'

Kouichi leaned back to stare at the moon and its lightly glowing face. Part of him was restless; he wanted to be doing something. Anything, but most importantly something that could open the Digital World gate wide enough to bring his brother and friends. They'd been stuck on the other side too long, and the gate would close in its entirety within a few months and then they would have to wait years for it to open up again.

They were the most important people in his life. He didn't think he could wait that long for another chance, so he had to make the best out of the one he had.

But he wasn't the only one in that situation. Yutaka and Shinya both had brothers there as well, in the Digital World. Brothers who were stuck, unable to go home as the gate wavered a size too small to be of any use save the smallest thread of connection. And they couldn't talk to them; the D-scanners only worked for the person they belonged to, and the sensors weren't sensitive enough to pick up any background noise at all. But even the D-scanners couldn't be used too often; they ran the risk of disturbing that frail connection before enough duel energy could be mustered up to widen it.

And they couldn't do it once either. The old system had overloaded because too much energy had gone through at once…even if that was exactly what they had needed at the time.

This was different. They couldn't risk breaking the connection entirely in this case, as the Digital World was a mirror world and not a separate dimension in itself. Losing that connection could cause either world to accelerate and change drastically before another tie was discovered; the Digital World Kouji and the others were in now was a very different one to that which they had saved.

He had not been called there. Or taken, as Kouji had later told him that they had been suddenly pulled in, as if a vacuum had sucked them through a portal. Later, Ofanimon relayed, through his twin, that the reason Kouichi had not been transported with the rest was because his body did not know that world. And a relief it was, she said, because repairing the damage left the gate unable to be opened from their end.

But there had been many times he had lain in bed and wished he had been in the Digital World _with_ them, instead of trying to bring them home.

Home…

His heart ached. The moon looked down tenderly upon him.

'Kouichi-kun?' A pause. 'You're not coming down with something, are you?'

'I'm fine Yutaka-san.'

The tone, and the simple –san ending as opposed to –sempai as he normally used told the other he wasn't keen on the direction the conversation was heading. Annoyance would have shown through a different way, but grating someone wasn't the best way to find out exactly _what_. Exactly how Kouichi managed to stay patient with people and animals was beyond him – especially as he wasn't with most things. That was normal though: not being patient. Patience was a virtue after all, so it had to be rare.

'I'm sorry,' he said suddenly, realising the other had said something else. 'I missed that.'

'I said I think I'll go visit 'kaa-san.'

'At this hour?'

'It'll take me at least five hours to get there,' Kouichi pointed out. 'If I take the midnight train I'll be there when she wakes up.'

'Your mother wakes up at –' Yutaka stifled another yawn. 'Five?'

'She's still using to having early hours,' the other explained. 'Even though now she doesn't have to go into work until nine now.'

'Why don't you go visit your father as well then,' Yutaka suggested. 'It's the weekend and then a public holiday, and Shinya-kun has been dying to duel somebody, so let him handle it for a few days and you go visit everyone.'

'Minato-ku's in the other direction to Shibuya,' Kouichi pointed out.

'You could just drop the disk off with me,' the other said.

'No, it's okay. I'll drop it off myself.'

'At this hour?'

'It's still eleven. His parents will be up.'

A pause. 'True.' Another. 'Most people would have argued.'

'I probably would have, if you didn't just tell me in not so many words I was an idiot.'

'I – uh – ' That had not been his intention in the least, but Kouichi did have a weird way of seeing things.

Kouichi just laughed. Not the normal laughter that danced on petals and rode on the wind, but not the hysterical wild typhoon either. Rather, it was like finding the humour in a non-humorous situation; in a sense, it was like that because something, a large something, was missing.

And he knew exactly what that something was. But he didn't envy those who didn't; after all, it was true. What they sad. The larger gap is left by the precious thing you did not look at until it was lost.

No, he didn't envy that. But he could say he envied those who still had that precious thing.

'I understand,' Yutaka said. 'I'll see you on Tuesday then?'

'Unless something comes up,' the other agreed, moving to take the ear-piece out and cut the connection.

Yutaka's voice interrupted him though. 'By the way, congratulations.'

'Don't congratulate me,' he snapped on reflex. Too late though; the other was gone.

Kouichi took the earpiece out of his ear and looked at it. He had a feeling Yutaka knew exactly how he would have replied. Either that, or he was sleepy enough to totally forget the beginning of their conversation.

It was frustrating, only being able to take baby steps. And that was with little bits of luck on their side; Yutaka's job, his own aptitude towards games of strategy and Tomoki's (although absent) wealth of games. Some of the cards were his; others were brought and the deck had been built. The duel disk was a little harder to place; Yutaka hadn't strictly given the new model to his brother and it had been further modified since. It was also lucky that he, despite conflict, really did enjoy the game, because it would have been worth nothing otherwise. But he couldn't bring himself to enjoy it wholly _because_ of why he played, what was at stake, and that slowed them down.

Yutaka pointed out that it was a good thing though. He didn't think the new system would be able to any better hold the passion of a duel between another Marufuji Ryou and Johan Anderson.


	3. Chapter 3: Greed

**A/N:** Sorry for the late reply. Shinya proved harder to write up than I thought he'd be.

* * *

**Lines to Cross**

**Chapter 3  
Greed**

Shinya was surprised to find his father hanging on to the duel disk passed on to him by Kouichi, and he was also surprised to find that, when he called Yutaka for an update (as his bedtime unfortunately came before the end of the tournament) that Kouichi was visiting his family and wouldn't be back until Tuesday at the earliest.

'That was sudden,' he said, slightly worried. 'Did something happen?'

'No,' Yutaka replied. 'Well, nothing earth-shattering or anything like that. I suppose he was just feeling a little…nostalgic.'

'That's…good I suppose.'

There was a moment of silence.

'I get the feeling you don't like him very much,' Yutaka ventured eventually.

'It's not that I don't like him.' Shinya fiddled with his friends.

'Of your brothers friends the least I mean.'

'That would be his brother.' A small scowl formed on his face. 'Kouji-san's mean.'

Yutaka laughed a little at that. 'Harsh certainly,' he agreed, 'but I think "mean" might be going a little too far.'

'He's always fighting with my brother.'

'And they're best friends.'

'Of course that'll be a bit of a problem,' Yutaka admitted. 'Conflict of interest; you want to spend more time with your brother and so do his friends, but that applies just as much to the others and least to Kouichi-kun.'

'Only because he lives far away from them,' Shinya pointed out.

'Not necessarily,' Yutaka said thoughtfully. 'You know the whole story, don't you?'

'I'm not a kid,' the other snapped, fiddling around with the cards, still in their holster. 'Still, that was years ago.'

'Then why is Kouichi-kun still in our world and both our brothers in the Digital World?

* * *

Shinya had to admit he left his best friend's brother's office rather more steamed than he entered. It probably wasn't the best discussion to get into, especially since he couldn't see his brother or his best friend and the two of them were probably together with Takuya's best friend to boot. On the other hand, Kouichi should feel worse than he did, as he had just as much of a right to be in the Digital World as the other past warriors except that he was chosen to stay behind. But Shinya could still grudge the fact that the other had – if not technically – been there at least the first time.

Whoever said you can't miss what you never had was with a few loose screws. Because till this day he didn't know whether he had missed out from a lack of a mobile phone (with his parents saying he was too young for one at the time) or because he wasn't pure at heart. Even a lot of children in his class had a glimpse of the place, but he had nothing.

It was comforting to know Yutaka hadn't either, but he was quite frankly too old. But Kouichi, who didn't have a mobile either, still managed to see that world, so if he was being completely honest with himself, he was a little jealous of that fact. The exception to the rule in a sense…but it went beyond that.

Maybe it was their personalities that clashed; Kouichi was, true to his element, a person who never strayed far from the shadows even when he was in the spotlight. Shinya was more like his brother than he cared to admit; he wanted to be big, _in_ the spotlight. And he most of all hated being useless.

And all he was good for was moral support, just because he was too young and was stuck in school. Not like Yutaka who had graduated. Not like Kouichi who had completed compulsory education and had elected to drop out instead of continue. If Shinya could make that decision he would, but not only would his parents not allow it, but he simply wasn't at that stage yet. So he was stuck in school, and worse he was occasionally stuck out of the loop because of that and curfew.

No-one else he knew had a bedtime. He knew his parents wanted what was best for him, and he also knew staying up late wouldn't help since he had nothing to contribute, but it was still frustrating. He hated being useless. And he hated how everyone still treated him like a kid, no matter how much older he got. Beecause, naturally, they all got older as well. It was a gap that was never filled.

Still, he was glad that he had the duel disk now, even more so that the deck was still inside. He finally had a chance to accomplish more than simply finding an advertisement and passing the word along. After all, anyone could do that. Especially Kouichi, who was out and about so often it was unbelievable he didn't notice stuff plastered on the walls.

Except the duel disk didn't fit him properly; it was just a little bigger, the perfect size for a late teen but for him it slipped down his arm, getting stuck at the elbow. It made him feel even more like a child, but that he could tolerate for a little bit of the action.

And he knew exactly where he could go for some duels. Somewhere, happily enough, where neither Kouichi nor Yutaka could.

* * *

'What brought you here anyway?' Sho asked, when a day had passed and Judai hadn't brought the subject up. Not that Sho minded his best friend from Duel Academia visiting, but the brunet wasn't the sort who came on a whim simply to say "how do you do".

Judai, who was busy enjoying Sho's homemade tea, didn't answer for a while. 'Your tea hasn't changed a bit,' he said happily once he had drained the cup.

'I made more,' Sho replied. 'But, Aniki –'

Judai suddenly burst into laughter, getting odd looks from Pharaoh (and Professor Banner), Sho and a transparent Yubel. 'It's just been ages since I've heard you call me Aniki,' the brunet explained. 'I'd say you haven't changed at all, but you have.'

Sho didn't know whether to be flattered or annoyed at that. Judai was entirely avoiding the question.

'The Principal called me over,' Judai said finally. 'And I thought it was a good opportunity to return Cyber End Dragon – ' He suddenly stopped, fishing around in his duel case. 'Aha, here it is.' He pulled out the fusion card, handing it over.

Sho took it in some surprise, before his small smile became a full-fledged grin at the sight of the precious card he had inherited from his brother. 'So you caught the thief?' he asked. He'd heard about Fubuki's Red Eyes Black Dragon disappearing, and O'Brien had called later saying Johan's Rainbow Dragon had gone missing as well, but he hadn't heard anything from anyone getting them back.

Judai rubbed the back of his head. 'You could say that,' he said. 'Turned out the guy came from the future and did a whole lot of jumping around. So this other guy came from the future – Yusei, really cool – and we went back into the past back when Yugi was taking names, and the three of us teamed up and took down Paradox.'

'Paradox?' Sho asked, but as usual Judai's enthusiasm was contagious.

'Anyway…' As usual, Judai was rushing off without ample explanation. 'I also wanted to talk about the new league you guys are running. Going okay?'

'Uh…' It took a few seconds for Sho to orient himself to the change in conversation. 'Things are going alright. We had a few problems kicking off, but we've hosted a few small tournaments and done some advertising around others. Ni-san's a little disappointed though I think; he wanted something…more grand I suppose. Somewhere where duellists can stretch beyond the current limitations of duelling.'

'Ah.' Judai leaned back. 'Sounds like the Kaiser alright.' He paused a moment. 'Yusei mentioned something interesting about that: a new sort of duels called Riding Duels.'

'Riding Duel?' Sho repeated. He'd never heard of it. But hadn't Judai just said this Yusei character was from the future? Maybe that was why.

'Duels on motorcycles,' the other explained. 'You said Kaiser was looking for something to change the Pro Leagues; this could be it.'

Sho nodded. Duelling on motorcycles certainly sounded like an interesting twist to the conventional duel. 'Of course,' he commented. 'There has to be more to it than duelling on a motorcycle with the conventional rules.'

Judai shrugged; he wasn't one for coming up with rules that worked for anyone other than himself. 'I'm sure you guys can figure it out.' He moved to drink more of the tea, before realising his cup was empty. 'Any more tea, Sho?'

'Coming up,' Sho replied, thinking Judai was as much a hurricane as ever, even when sitting on a couch in his living room.

* * *

'So, you wanna duel kid?'

Shinya scowled. 'You're the same age as me. And you know my name.'

The other shrugged. 'Maybe, but you still get riled up by getting called a kid by someone your age.' He shrugged, then grinned. 'Well Shinya? Or are you in too bad a mood?'

'I'm in a perfectly fine mood.' Of course, Shinya's tone contradicted that, although Hideki didn't bother calling him out on it. It wasn't as though they were friends anyway.

Hideki shrugged, clipping his own duel disk to his arm – which unfortunately fit quite well. 'I prefer the days where we'd duke it out with good ol' fists, but my mum prefers this method.'

'Then run along home.' Shinya could usually give as well as he got…but that was more thanks to his brother's fast mouth. He wished Takuya didn't have such an influence on him; it just made him feel even more like a kid.

'You run along…kid.'

Shinya swore to himself that one day soon – preferably, that very same day – people would stop looking down on him as a kid.

'Let's just get to this.'

He wondered who would be taught the lesson.

* * *

Judai bid farewell to Sho sometime around noon and dawdled on his way to the pier in Domino City. The bus ride was as boring as ever, and he spent it arguing lightly with Yubel on the subject of his laundry. He was still hopeless at it, but she refused to become corporal for such a menial task.

'If I did it for you,' she'd say, 'it's just more of an excuse for you not to learn.'

'I have tried,' Judai'd whine in reply. 'Me and clothes washing don't go together.'

And then Yubel would mutter: 'how can you not know you don't put white clothes with the coloured clothes. And how can you not do simple measurements?'

Hence there were such things called Laundromats, but the problems with those was the waiting. And his mother certainly wouldn't be happy with him if he came home once a month simply to dump unwashed boxers, singlets, shirts and jeans (chances were slimmer that his jacket too would require a wash) and then disappear again. Especially since she rarely did her own washing anyway, being too busy with work…though, like every mother, she could make room to see her son every now and again.

'Maybe after Duel Academia,' Judai said aloud, threading through crowds of people. 'It sure has been a while since I visited after all.'

'This time remember to call,' Yubel sighed, giving up the laundry issue. 'Remember what happened last time?'

'Yeah, yeah.' Judai waved a hand. 'I do learn from my mistakes, you know.'

'Oh, do you?' the spirit shot back dryly. 'That's news to me.'

'Okay, well most of them,' the brunet amended. 'You can hardly blame a guy's inability to wash his own clothes.'

'You can if they don't intend to settle down and get married so their wives can pick up their slack.'

'Geeze, I can cook at least.'

'Remotely,' Yubel said in amusement.

'How would you know?' Judai asked. 'You've never tasted my cooking?'

'No, I leave that chore to Pharaoh.'

* * *

They'd managed to amass a bit of a crowd, and it was no wonder. Shinya, little brother of the best – and currently missing – captain of the regional baseball team and one of the best schoolyard fighters around, and Hideki whose very goal in life was to create situations where people like Shinya would have no choice but to fight…or watch their friends get beat up.

Except this time it was Shinya who had brought the fight, seizing the opportunity that had hung at his door. Because Hideki was all brawn and no brain, but he was passionate. It was perfect, eliminating two problems at once. Using the new craze in the playground that had rippled from Domino City and other land-marked gaming areas of the world and spreading until even people in the middle of Antarctica knew the game and how to play. And there _were_ researchers from Kaiba Corp or Industrial Illusions there; Shinya always managed to get the two mixed up, so he wasn't sure exactly which.

But Hideki was never one to be outdone, although he would have to grudgedly admit, if pressed enough he did respect Shinya for his stance on bullying, even if he did have a very limited view on the matter. Sheltering shrimps was hardly going to accomplish anything after all.

'Ready to duel?'

'Ready.'

A pause, then the start of the match was declared.

'Duel!'

They each drew five cards, then played a few rounds of rock-paper-scissors before Hideki won the toss and went first.

'I play a monster in defence mode and one face down.' He set the two cards, one flat on the surface of his duel disk and the other into a free spell/trap slot.

Shinya drew his sixth card. 'I summon –' He stopped, fighting down a blush before gulping. 'Witch of the Black Forest in attack mode.'

There were a few titters in the crowd as the violet woman appeared. Illegal in tournaments, it was a perfectly acceptable card to use on a common street duel. And with a useful effect as well…though Shinya didn't think there were any monsters with a low defence mode but a high attack power in the deck Kouichi had built.

'Witch of the Black Forest, attack!'

The face-down monster flipped up to reveal itself as Mezuki, whose 800 defence points were no match of the wind fairy. Hideki looked perfectly at ease though, and Shinya frowned before throwing Kunai with Chain facedown and ending his turn.

'My turn then.' Hideki didn't bother looking at his card; he immediately went to one in his hand. 'First, I'll activate the field spell: Zombie World. This card changes the type of all monsters on the field to Zombie, and neither of us can tribute summon anything other than a Zombie type monster.'

A few of the girls squealed as the new duel field appeared, but most of the spectators were interested in what was to come.

'Next I activate the spell Foolish Burial, and I chose to send Red Eyes Zombie Dragon.'

Shinya scowled; he knew what was coming next.

'I remove Mezuki in my graveyard from play to summon forth my Red Eyes Zombie Dragon!'

'And the crowds just make him look bigger,' the brunet muttered under his breath, looking as the larger than life hologram appeared. 'What a pain.'

'Red Eyes Zombie Dragon, attack!'

'I activate Kunai with Chain.' Shinya flipped his face down card, relieved that it had a second effect. 'Not only does it switch your monster into defence mode, but it gives mine an extra 500 attack points.'

'Not much good.' Hideki revealed his face down. 'Zero Gravity changes the battle position of all monsters on the field, so my Zombie Dragon's attack goes through after all.'

Shinya didn't know whether to be relieved his life points were safe or annoyed the other could now resummon Witch of the Black Forest to his own field.

'Witch of the Black Forest's ability still activates,' Shinya said, sifting through the deck before selecting Old Vindictive Magician. 'I select a monster with less than 1500 defence points and add it to my hand.'

'And now I activate Red Eyes Zombie Dragon's special effect, summoning your Witch of the Black Forest to my field, and I'll use it to attack you directly.'

Shinya gritted his teeth as his life points dropped to 6900, annoyed he had lost life points so early in the match.

'I play a card facedown. Turn end.'

'I draw then.' Shinya drew, displeased at the lack of powerful monsters. He knew there weren't many, but he simply didn't have the patience to tiptoe around everything…and he didn't see why he had to either. The deck was rather annoyingly built in that aspect; it would take a minimum of eight rounds to win, and that was mostly pure luck.

And until he drew Bad Reaction to Simochi, half the cards in his hand were completely useless.

'I set a monster and end my turn.'

'My draw then.' Hideki considered his hand, much smaller than his opponent's. 'I summon Shutendoji in attack mode, and I'll activate its special ability, returning Mezuki from my banished cards to the top of my deck. Next, I'll set one card, and then attack with Red Eyes Zombie Dragon.'

The shadowy blast flipped over Old Vindictive Magician. 'I use Old Vindictive Magician's flip effect,' Shinya declared. 'My target is Red Eyes Zombie Dragon.'

'Of course it is,' the other said easily, putting the card into the graveyard. 'Hence why I'll attack directly with Shutendoji and Witch of the Black Forest.'

Shinya's life points sunk to 4300, while the other's stood strong at 8000.

'My turn's over.'

Shinya stared at the deck, wondering how anyone could get anywhere. He was sure the three had thrown ideas about for a stalling deck, but so far he was getting clobbered, his hand next to useless in his current situation.

'I draw.'

Monster Reborn. That, he could use.

'I activate the magic card Monster Reborn.' The ankh key appeared in the centre of the field. 'From your graveyard, I resurrect Red Eyes Zombie Dragon, and I'll use him to attack…' He paused; he knew the zombie archetype had generally low defensive power as opposed to their offence…and any exception wasn't in this particular deck. Therefore Witch of the Black Forest could give him almost any monster he wished for. '…Shutendoji.'

The colourful zombie shattered with a shriek as Hideki's life points dropped by 900.

'Finally,' Shinya sighed, glad for the damage. 'Next, I'll use Red Eyes Zombie Dragon's monster effect, summoning Shutendoji to my field in attack mode. Turn end.'

Hideki was none too pleased to find his favourite monster on his opponent's field. 'I draw.' Mezuki, as expected from Shutendoji's ability. 'I set a monster, and then I'll attack Shutendoji with Witch of the Black Forest!'

The black magic backfired upon the purple clad witch, ripping her holographic image to shreds.

'Now, using Witch of the Black Forest's ability, I can select a monster with 1500 or fewer defence points and add it to my hand. I choose Getsu Fuhma.'

He ended his turn there, and Shinya drew his next card, getting Pot of Greed which he immediately used to gain Negate Attack and Raging Flame Sprite. 'I summon Raging Flame Sprite, and I'll activate its ability, allowing it to attack your life points directly.'

Hideki's life points dropped to 6800, and Raging Flame Sprite's attack points increased by 1000 due to its second effect.

'Next, Shutendoji attacks your facedown monster.'

Mezuki flipped out before his axe shattered again.

'And last, Red Eyes Zombie Dragon! Direct attack!'

'Not so fast.' Hideki flipped his face down card. 'I use Ultimate Offering and pay 500 life points to summon Getsu Fuhma from my hand, and its monster ability destroys any zombie or fiend type monster it battles.'

'You'll still take the battle damage,' Shinya pointed out, disappointed his play had fallen in so quickly. 'I set a face-down and end my turn.

Hideki still had more than 1000 life point advantage, though Shinya had narrowed it down quite effectively. Still, Hideki mused to himself, there's something funny about that deck.

'I draw.' Mystical Space Typhoon. 'I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to blow away your face down card.'

It flipped up to reveal Negate Attack.

'Hmm, thought so.' Hideki shrugged, a little disappointed. 'I remove Mezuki from my graveyard to resummon Red Eyes Zombie Dragon, and then I'll normal summon Paladin of Cursed Dragon.'

Anyone who'd watched Kaiba Seto's past duels would recognise the root of that monster, although its colouring differed from the white dragon.

'Red Eyes Zombie Dragon, attack Shutendoji!'

Shinya's life points sunk to 3400 as his defence was slowly picked apart.

'Next, I use Red Eyes Zombie Dragon's monster effect to resurrect Shutendoji to my field, and then I'll use Paladin of Cursed Dragon to attack your Raging Flame Sprite.'

Shinya's life points further decreased to 2800.

'Next up, Paladin of Cursed Dragon's monster effect, chained to the field spell card Zombie World. I can summon one monster destroyed in battle this turn from your graveyard to my field. Naturally, I choose Raging Flame Sprite, which thanks to my field spell was a zombie when it was destroyed.'

The fiery boy appeared with his broomstick and ragged hat.

'Then it's a double direct attack.'

A further 1800 points of damage, leaving Shinya with only a 1000 life points left.

'Turn end.'

He needed a miracle draw…but he never got miracles.

'I draw.' A pause. 'Damn, I can't use this!' The card fell from his fingertips: End of the World. Strangely appropriate, but useless with neither the monster to ritual summon or its tributes.

'Guess that's it then.' Once again, Hideki didn't bother looking at the card he had drawn; he had more than enough power on his field. It was a bit of a chore deciding with what monster to end the battle with, but in the end he chose his prized dragon; he did respect the other after all. He wasn't so far down to deserve being dealt the finishing blow with his own monster.'

* * *

'Why did you challenge me?' Hideki asked curiously, after the crowd had, some happily and others disappointed, flitted away.

Shinya remained slouched against the wall and said nothing.

'Geeze, come on.' Hideki sighed. 'It's not like I've picked some little guy in awhile.'

'You say that as if you're proud of it,' Shinya snapped finally.

'People grow up faster when they're pushed.' The other shrugged. 'Not much point cuddling them; you of all people should know no-one ever really got hurt.'

The brunet pushed off the wall and looked curiously at the other. 'Maybe,' he said cautiously. 'But most of those kids also got picked on by other…bullies.'

Though he was starting to see the point of what the other said.

'Do you think I'm as bad as them?' A raised eyebrow.

'No,' Shinya admitted finally. 'Someone like that would be gloating now. You're acting almost…concerned.'

'I respect you,' the other said, before covering his mouth. 'I never said that, got it?'

That reminded him so much of Takuya that the younger Kanbara couldn't help but give a watery laugh, sniffing a little.

'Look at me,' he said, rubbing the forming tears away. 'Crying over something this stupid.'

'Which is?' the other asked.

'People problem really.' Somehow, it was easier to talk to someone he had a mutual rivalry with, as opposed to someone he saw on a more friendly basis. The truth was though, they weren't his friends. They were friends of his brother. Or brothers of his brother's friends…though Kouichi was most definitely both and Yutaka was arguably so.

'Maybe 'cause you're trying to be someone else instead of yourself.' Hideki put his hands in his pocket. 'That didn't seem like the sort of deck you'd be comfortable in using.'

'It's…someone else's.' He struggled to find a word to describe Kouichi. 'A…friend I guess.'

'Not sure?'

'He's my brother's friend really,' Shinya confessed. 'Part of that group he's really close with.' His own fingers slid into the flaps of his jacket. 'His brother disappeared too, but he can do so much more than I can in trying to find them.'

Hideki whistled. 'Sounds like a mess. Seems to me this friend of yours…or brother's friend…is someone very different from you.'

'How can you tell?' the other deadpanned.

'Easy, that deck.' Hideki pointed to the duel disk. 'Whoever uses that likes playing with multiple pieces. He'd seen not only the stalling cards but The Eye of Truth as well. 'Probably a terror to get around in chess.'

'Yes, he is,' Shinya agreed, remembering how he would play with Junpei while Takuya swung a baseball bat around. Something about them being apprehensive about his serve…although Takuya seemed pretty sure they had been joking. 'But what has that got to do with anything?' He pointed at the deck. 'I don't have the patience to use this; I thought I could, but –'

'Oh, it's not a patient deck,' Hideki laughed. 'A tricky one, but certainly not patient.'

Shinya blinked.

'You think the guy who built this is patient?'

'Well…yeah.' He didn't see how one could describe Kouichi as anything but.

'Would a patient person put all his resources towards building a net to fish things out of?' Hideki raised an eyebrow. 'Sure, it takes time to set up this combo, but when it's going, it's a pretty robust one…as well as putting down all those cards like Emergency Provisions and Spring of Rebirth and Dian Keto the Cure Master that could save game. With no way to increase your life points, the only way you can go is down, and if there's a strong enough defence in the way, then…' Hideki shrugged again. 'This guy sounds interesting, but not exactly straightforward.'

Shinya had to admit he hadn't thought of things like that.

'What sort of deck do you think suits me?' he asked.

'A more straight-forward one,' Hideki said immediately. 'The attacking sort. I dunno…dragons maybe? They're pretty powerful and not much by the way of going via sidelines. Or maybe not. You're not really the super-power sort. Or…you could make it work. Stuff like Spear Dragon and Troop Dragon and…' He went on, and Shinya found himself only half listening, wondering how and when they'd starting talking as if they were friends.

* * *

Judai, much to his surprise, found himself at the docks hours earlier than the boat would depart. 'Oh great,' he groaned. 'No what?'

'An early dinner?' Yubel offered.

'Good idea. I'm in the mood for a cheeseburger.' He looked around, and Pharaoh mewled his own demands from inside the pack. 'I guess some fish too.'

'I don't think there's a cheeseburger shop at the harbour,' the spirit pointed out.

Judai shrugged. 'We've got time to shop around.'

'Funny, you were fine with fish at Duel Academy.'

'Except for Sandwich Day. Nothing but the Eggwich after all.'

'And spinach.'

'True.'


	4. The Beginning: Gluttony

**A/N:** And now the stuff that happened before the first chapter…and to prevent spoiling those chapters, I didn't put it as a prologue. Sadly though, I didn't count on the last chapter taking so long. Split scenes this time round, but they're basically random stuff that provide some more information. What happens in the Digital World isn't really the focus of this story after all. I originally planned different scenes, but the first and last scenes wrote themselves and I fell in love with them. They also rendered most of the planned stuff useless.

And I know Greed was the last chapter, but there's a reason for that. Can anyone pick out my reasoning for each prompt in their namesake chapters?

* * *

**Lines to Cross**

**The Beginning  
Gluttony**

Need often turns out to be a great and desperate thing, and brings with it a sense of thoughtlessness. The spontaneity by which it is attempted to be fulfilled often rips holes elsewhere in the fabric of existence, whether this need is large or small.

In this way, all thoughts infer actions and all actions have consequences, but before that the power of thought itself is dictated by actions that precede it.

When Ofanimon had called children from all over the world to the Forest Terminal in the hopes that there would be some who could wield the five spirits that, between herself and Seraphimon, the side of good possessed, she never thought that it was possible there also existed in that cohort children who could wield the other five. Wood, water, earth and steel: these four she found later were strongly attracted to the four children who had refused her bid and stayed behind. If she had known sooner, she could have guided the others to them, the ones who had taken on the spirits she had guided them towards and defeated those who had been born from evil and Cherubimon. Perhaps those five – later six – might have suffered less pain with another four to help them. Maybe they would be suffering less now.

She also didn't know that, by opening the gate between the two worlds, she had let Cherubimon who was normally unable to see the other world have access to a great power. She did know the spirits of Darkness had been cursed long ago by Lucemon, and that every digimon Cherubimon tried to affiliate with it lost their minds in a screaming labyrinth – for her cage hung above that very labyrinth and it was impossible not to hear the mindless cries – but to no avail. However, there was a wealth of humans, and one with a dark soul but a strong mind would be easier to come by. And it was, for a cruel or perhaps fortunate twist of fate brought the perfect person to his doorstep. And it was a child too far away for her to reach.

It complicated things, but it worked out better in the end for it brought two lost brothers together and solidified their bond. And it saved the child as well, for she knew life and death better than anyone, and if it hadn't been for the spirits of darkness and finding his brother, she knew Kimura Kouichi would not have survived that afternoon.

She thought that was the end of the legendary warriors' task and the beginning of a new peace, but she had been wrong. And when she tried to reach the warriors again, she found herself only able to reach five of the six. For not only was the spirit of darkness one that did not come under her jurisdiction, but its warrior had not physically entered the digital world so it was as unfamiliar with him as he was with it. Souls were one thing, but when it came to the fickle gate only bodies mattered to it.

And the gate was so unstable, due to a result of the current issues in the digital world, Lucemon's chaos and her own gambit at the time, she could not afford to dawdle in calling the other five. But even that didn't go as planned, as time warped and the gate slammed behind them.

* * *

Kouichi had been expecting Kouji to call after school as he always did, half an hour after the elder twin arrived home if he was coming direct. It just so happened he was that day; there was no meeting of the art club and his library books were plenty and with long due dates. And he had a lot of math homework to crawl through unless he called Junpei later to ask for some help.

_Which I'll have to,_ he thought to himself as he tried to get a start on it. _This makes no sense at all._

It should, and it probably would at a later stage, but he didn't have the luxury to wait when the worksheet was due in the next day. It was pointless anyway – he had no intention of going into engineering, unlike Junpei once again, so he had no use for circular functions. He didn't see how they would; they must, naturally, otherwise they wouldn't exist, but he knew no context for them. It was just learning for the sake of learning; he was getting nowhere.

But school was school and he had to tolerate it, even if he wished he could do something rather than lead towards a light that never seemed to arrive. But he lifted his head an unproductive half-hour later to find that Kouji was late in calling him.

Kouji was never late. Especially not when he had the day off from school. Something the Kyoto students had missed out on, but Kouichi wasn't complaining. He'd already had his student-free day after all. But he was surprised to find that Kouji hadn't called. Even if he was in the middle of something, the younger twin had a bad habit of interrupting to make the call.

At that exact moment, his stomach suddenly plummeted into unseen depths before returning to normal, and as he wondered if Kouji had been on a roller coaster (although he was sure he felt surprise in there), the phone rang.

And it didn't stop ringing. But that didn't change the fact that his five best friends had just vanished off the face of the earth.

And they could only be in one place, because he would have known if his brother was hurt or in danger…just as Kouji had felt it when he struck his head against the tiled floor of Shibuya station.

* * *

Kouji woke up to a panic. Two panics to be precise; there were Child digimon running about him as though the apocalypse was at their doorstep – and upon seeing the huge shadow threatening to devour them, that wasn't an entirely inaccurate perception. Takuya was already up beside him, yelling for Agunimon. He wondered whether he should yell for Wolfmon. But there was another sort of panic inside of him.

He looked around, trying to assess the situation. Izumi was still unconscious, half slumped over Junpei. Tomoki was stirring, one hand blindly feeling about for something. A slipper or sock maybe, as he was moving the transparent object to his feet as if slipping his toes into them. But that was it.

There was no Kouichi. They were in the Digital World, and he was missing his brother.

'Hey, you!' Takuya was yelling at the shadowy figure now. 'Go pick on someone your own size.'

'I'm not sure it's a good idea to rile him up,' Junpei muttered. 'We need our spirits to fight.'

But Izumi was sitting up, blinking in shock, and they could all run faster than the average Child digimon (Renamon being an obvious exception). And running seemed like the best idea, even if they were running aimlessly – at least until Angemon arrived to lead them to the Great Angels.

And there they leant of the chaos that had been strung into motion by a series of events that had brought the five of them to the Digital World and left the warrior of darkness behind.

They might have managed with five before they met him the first time, but now they knew they were six parts of a whole and that made things a lot more complicated.

* * *

Last time, they had been young and naive. Sure, Takuya missed Shinya and Tomoki missed Yutaka…and all of them their parents, and Kouji his dog, and the list went on. But they were still in elementary school…save Junpei who had just started junior high. They had a wealth of time to experience things. It was the perfect age to have adventures and to adapt. And it was okay, because they'd gone to the Digital World looking for things, be that answers to life's questions or curiosity, and they had every chance to turn back if they wished. Even if they didn't, the choice helped.

This time, they were older, less malleable, and they were missing a whole lot more. Things they had gained from their last trip to the Digital world: friends, and family in Kouji's case. All of them were missing a member of their team who had fought at least half the battles by their side. A friend they missed each time they came across a circumstance where his speciality could have made things far easier to them. Like his knowledge about the Dark Continent (and some other equally fickle places) which far surpassed Bokomon's, or the tracking instincts that came with his beast spirit and far stronger than Kouji's inner wolf. Once it had been a joke, how the younger twin got the territorial genes and the elder got the gift of the true hunt, but it would have saved them parading across the Digital World without aim and probably a few close calls as well.

And they missed the things they had learnt to appreciate. On one hand, they felt as though they could accomplish more with greater age and knowledge. Save more digimon from the new enemy, the greedy Barbamon. On the other, they felt as though they were weaker, for their minds drifted back to other things. And when they saw time followed the same pattern in both worlds, they worried all the more. Before, it was five children looking for their place. Now, it was five children who had found them, only to be uprooted.

It was great to be in the Digital World, but it seemed to be costing them too much.

And when Barbamon was finally defeated, they learnt what it truly felt like to be stuck in a place one didn't belong. Not that the world didn't welcome them with open arms, but they were humans in a world full of digimon. Little things that uprooted them: the odd currency, the lack of a junior high school, the people they had gotten so used to being around.

It was difficult to contact the human world, but they were grateful it wasn't impossible. By an odd twist of fate, it was Kouichi's absence that saved them on that front; it seemed only the twins' D-scanners could connect with each other over the distance between the two worlds, and with no-one able to open the gate from their end it would have to be forced from the human side. If Kouichi hadn't still been there though, who knew how someone would have known to try…or find the right world in a large and messy continuum. Even with someone who knew so much about the Digital World, it was by far an easy task, but it was possible, and they cheered up immensely. Ofanimon did too; it wasn't that the warriors had overstayed their welcome, but she worried about the consequences of her own actions. She could not call them mistakes, because it had saved them twice with no ill will, but she could see the children were miserable underneath it all.

Somehow, that first message warped time again: sped it up. It seemed only a day or two had passed before the twins were talking – or shouting over static – again. And they cheered up even more; things were progressing. And then another few days, and things on the other side were almost ready and the five teens crowded around Kouji's D-scanner under the sky of the Venus Rose, awaiting the flash that would tell them the gate was open and ready for them.

Those last few days turned into a vacation, but there was still the worry at the back of their minds that things would fail and they would remain apart from the things they had learnt to love forever.

But even if they went back, they would be missing things they had left behind. It was just the difference between the baby duck who followed its mother and the toddler who crawled about with curiosity, the difference between the world they had lived in for years and the one they visited for months to save. There was no attaining the perfect balance after all, and home with loved ones waiting was simply the closest.


	5. Chapter 4: Wrath

**A/N:** Finally done. And the last two chapters are done too (they were done before chapter 2 actually).

And I actually managed to get it past 4500 without a duel. It's still shorter than the other chapters though.

* * *

**Lines to Cross**

**Chapter 4  
Wrath**

Shinya waited impatiently for the city-bound train. Technology had far advanced from where it had been a few years ago, and now it was no problem to know when a train had departed a station elsewhere in the state and when it arrived, for there was an app that told it all with a few clicks. Therefore he knew the bullet train had stopped at Tokyo station and the regional train had departed from there, and if Kouichi had received Yutaka's memo and hoped to make it to Duel Academia before nightfall, there was no way he could not be on that train.

The problem with new technology though was that it still didn't account for delays en route, and so that left Shinya tapping his foot while waiting for the train to arrive. And if it did arrive without the person he was expecting on board, he'd scream at the very least.

Fortunately, the train arrived not a minute later, and with it, a tired looking Kouichi rubbing his eyes at the bright sun..

'Kouichi-san!' Shinya yelled, ignoring the startled look he received from the hailed teen and the odd looks from everyone else. 'Over here.' He waved his arms, before realising Kouichi had been staring right at him and would therefore not need the extra visual. Still, he shrugged to himself. It was always better to err on the side of caution.

At least Kouichi hurried over, and Shinya quickly grabbed the free hand and dragged him outside. He had a lot of practice with his brother after all, and Kouichi figured out the pace quickly enough to avoid stumbling the entire way.

'This way,' he said, gesturing towards his house.

'But where are we going?' The other sounded out of breath already, and Shinya laughed. 'To that small park behind my house.'

If Kouichi was completely lost by the younger Kanbara's behaviour, he didn't show it, letting the other drag him along. They got a few looks along the way – and no wonder; they couldn't loom more different – but most seemed to brush it off with little smiles of amusement. It was no strange thing, after all, to watch friends as different as the night and the day running around together.

Though they weren't exactly friends. Then again, friendship was a thing not easily defined.

* * *

Judai got off the train, stretching his legs and shaking his jacket. 'Geeze, train rides never get better.'

'I don't know,' Yubel said, amused. 'Pharaoh looks very comfortable.'

'Pharaoh's a cat,' the brunet sighed, scratching the cat affectionally behind the ears.

'And you're a human; what about it?'

Judai shook his head. Yubel could always outwit him.

'Whatever. Let's just get over to Industrial Illusions already.'

* * *

'So…why did you bring me here?' Kouichi ventured finally, after the younger Kanbara took a seat at one of the vacant benches and swung his feet.

'Um…well…' Shinya, who had been feeling very confident then, was nervous now. 'Well, I…I duelled Hideki.'

That statement had absolutely no meaning to Kouichi.

'Uh…'

'He was…well, I thought he was a bully.' It was embarrassing to talk about; it was something he'd much rather be talking about with Tomoki, but it was something he needed to be talking about _Kouichi_ about. 'He said a few things.'

Kouichi looked at him thoughtfully. 'Unsettling things?' he asked, amusement skilfully disguised.

'Was it that obvious?'

The other laughed outright at that. 'I don't think I've ever heard you stutter before.'

'Oh.' Shinya went a little redder at that, before realising the laughter was simple amusement and nothing more. And it was amusing; he hadn't heard himself stutter in quite a while. Though if his brother or parents were there, the teasing would have continued. At least Kouichi wasn't likely to tell anyone.

Still, it didn't hurt to make sure. 'You…won't tell anyone, will you?'

'Not if you don't want me to,' came the reply, the question thinly veiled.

'I don't,' Shinya decided. 'I think I want to tell Tomoki this myself, but apart from that…' He shrugged; it didn't really matter at the current time. 'Anyway, he told me a few things.'

He had already said that, but it was a bad habit of his to repeat himself. Helped fill the empty space.

'He said he thought the deck I was using wasn't right for me.' After a small pause, he added: 'it was your deck, of course. But he said it wasn't compatible with me. You left it in the Duel Disk though.'

'I didn't build it completely on my own,' Kouichi pointed out.

'You put the cats in,' Shinya accused. 'They're hardly practical.'

Kouichi laughed again. 'Guilty as charged. I just have a thing for cats. They make me feel…well, comfortable.'

'Go figure. Cats are demons if you ask me.'

They had gotten completely off the topic, but it didn't seem to matter. And it shouldn't; they had hours to kill.

'He also said some other stuff, about babying others. How no-one will survive in the real world being babied. It was almost as if he'd drop kids on their head and I'd pick them up and we were dysfunctional parents or something.'

'Hmm…' To Shinya's surprise, Kouichi didn't comment on that, simply looking thoughtful.

'So I was thinking about that, and…how was it in the Digital World?' The question came out a little rushed, and Kouichi looked surprised.

'Haven't you asked your brother?'

'I have.' Shinya was looking at his lap. 'And Tomoki, but it was different for you, wasn't it?'

'Well, yes…but…'

'Hideki said you were interesting, but not straightforward.' Shinya tried a different tactic. 'I think that's the reason never liked you as much as Ni-san's other friends. I just never understood anything you think.'

'Neither did I,' Kouichi admitted, and Shinya found himself surprised. 'I suppose I just assumed you were jealous. A little egotistical of me, really, but for some people it's easier to see faults in others than in yourself.'

'So you're one of them?' Shinya ventured.

Kouichi didn't verbally answer, but he did incline his head slightly in what looked like admission. 'It's a long story,' he cautioned.

'I'm all ears.'

* * *

After getting his arm shook off by an enthusiastic Pegasus, Judai found himself enveloped in a warm bear-hug by Hayato.

'It's been far too long Judai.'

'Yes it has,' Judai gasped, a little pressed for air.

The other released him, unable to contain his giddiness, and behind him, Des Koala was happily chattering with the Elemental Heroes and Hane Kuriboh.

'It's been far too long since Des Koala's had someone to talk to,' Hayato commented, noting the noise that the rest of the office appeared oblivious to. Most hadn't really looked at the new arrival; Pegasus was always an eccentric guy so they didn't think much of a rugged-looking and yet handsome young adult carrying a large tabby cat around. And none of them could see the convention of Duel Monster spirits taking place on their floor.

'Makes you wonder what embarrassing stories they're sharing,' Judai said with a smile, before clasping Hayato on the back. 'But what's been happening with you?'

'I'm working on a new card series,' Hayato said proudly.

'Good for you, Hayato.'

* * *

'…and that's it,' Kouichi finished, feeling decidedly awkward after all the questions Shinya had interrupted him with. When his parents had asked, they had simply listened patiently…and as a consequence he'd left quite a bit of "unnecessary" details out. Even Kouji didn't know the details Shinya was digging out – he put a new definition to the term "curiosity killed the cat" – but even though he could have lied, he was never terribly good at that.

'That…doesn't make sense.' Shinya was frowning, trying to understand it all.

Kouichi caught himself before he could fall off the bench. 'You're kidding,' he said tiredly. 'Right?'

Shinya shrugged, then grinned. 'Guess I have to be there doing that. Still wish I was. You guys know exactly who you are now. Enough for you to leave school and have absolutely no regrets – '

'I wouldn't say that,' Kouichi interrupted, squashing that dangerous thought before it rose. 'I do regret leaving school, but I wasn't going anywhere with it. Maybe I would have done better with another school; I don't know, and instead of trying I gave it up completely.'

'That's alright though, isn't it?' Shinya asked. 'You're managing…unless you want to get married and have a family or something.' He blushed as soon as he said that, and Kouichi looked curiously at him, before shrugging.

'I don't think so,' he said. 'My current family and friends are enough of a handful.' And Shinya knew exactly how true that was.

'My brother was right.' Shinya kicked back, wincing as he accidentally hit the bench's leg. 'You do paint yourself in a worse light than anyone else, and yet you say it's easier to see faults in others.'

'It is,' Kouichi said in a matter-of-fact voice. 'How do you think that whole mess with Duskmon started.'

'Point.' Shinya rubbed his brain. 'I think I'll settle with the fact that you're a puzzle with too many pieces and leave you for someone else to solve. You're too complicated…but you're not that bad.' Realising that wasn't entirely flattering, he added: 'I guess we're not compatible either, just like I'm not compatible with your deck. But that doesn't really matter; Izumi and my brother aren't compatible either, but they get along fine. Maybe a little too fine…'

Kouichi coughed behind his hand. 'They're not dating,' he exclaimed.

'They're not?' Shinya sounded genuinely surprised. 'They fight enough.'

'Takuya's a little…oblivious.'

Shinya cracked up at that. 'He so is,' he chuckled. 'I guess I'll just have to tell him I want Izumi-chan as a brother in law.'

'When did Izumi become Izumi-chan?' Kouichi wondered out loud, before shaking his head. While Shinya was more forthcoming with the information, Kouichi had to admit he didn't really understand Shinya a whole lot either.

'You're a good kind, you know?'

'But I want to grow up!'

Kouichi had a hard time stifling his laughter at that. 'You'll get your chance someday, but in the meantime enjoy being a kid.'

'You know all the adults say that Kouichi-san. Are you sure you're the same age as my brother?'

* * *

Judai learnt that Hayato was still the cook he had been back at Duel Academia…when he wanted to be. But even a simple grilled cheese had a certain tang that takeaway food always lacked. Due to the inconvenience of carrying a portable stove around in his backpack – though he had a box of matches for emergencies – he had never really bothered teaching himself how to cook anything further than hot ramen and a cup of tea. Home-cooked meals – or even office cooked meals – were something he didn't get to enjoy often on the road, and as almost every journey he intended to make lent itself to many more distractions, it was something he enjoyed semi-frequently.

Although home-tastes differed between friends and strangers, and even between different friends. After all, Shou was still the best at making tea and Ryou wasn't prone to experimenting with meals as Fubuki was.

'Are you going to have any space when you get to Duel Academia?' Hayato asked, glad to find his friend hadn't changed at all, and even happier to see his sandwiches being so joyfully enjoyed.

'Of course,' Judai grinned. 'My stomach changes to fit my needs.'

He pointedly ignored Yubel's snickering at that comment.

'Oh come on, it comes in handy when we're stuck wandering the desert, or running all over Venice trying to escape flying dragons –'

' – which, as I recall, you were quite smitten by,' the spirit teased.

'Well,' Judai shot right back, 'I do have a soft spot for dragons.'

'Hmmph.'

Hayato didn't pretend to understand their teasing, instead venturing for a safer topic. 'So, what brought you along anyway? A social call?'

'Actually, Samijima wanted me to drop by Duel Academia,' the brunet confessed, rubbing the back of his head. 'The students that can see Duel Spirits think they're acting up around the Old Ruins. He doesn't think it's too urgent though; he arranged for me to take the ferry after all.'

'So you've been in Domino City for awhile then?'

'Well, I was visiting Shou and Ryou mostly…and I did have something to return.' At a reminding look from Yubel, he added: 'Speaking of, have you ever heard of Synchro Monsters?'

'Hmm…' Hayato thought for a moment. 'I think I might have; Kaiba Corp is looking for a new twist on Duel Monsters and they're looking at expanding your Neo Spacians' Contact Fusion. It's still in the debating stages though, so I doubt cards will be designed for them in the next few years.'

'Interesting,' Judai commented, counting the years.

'You're not the sort to think too much about what the future holds,' Yubel said quietly.

The brunet shrugged. 'Can't blame a guy for being curious,' he pointed out.

Hayato once again looked blank, and Judai noticed but waved it off. 'Just some people we met in Venice.'

'That's putting it mildly,' Yubel remarked.

'Yubel, are you trying to keep me out of trouble and put me deeper into it?'

Hayato decided he just wouldn't ask. Sometimes it was better not knowing what Judai got mixed up in.

* * *

Kouichi had left shortly after the…most enlightening discussion with Shinya; he still had his casual jobs after all, and he'd have to do them a little faster than usual since he had a ferry to catch as well. Shinya filled him in a little, and Yutaka the rest – and once they had, he could barely believe Shinya had managed to wait so patiently to tell him. All their brothers were so close – but that had explained a little more than the younger Kanbara had himself.

Yutaka just had that knowing air about him when the pair had caught up, as well as a cabinet of stuff that needed filing. He had been busy with other work, but the screen that contained their hope remained open in a corner, and he was able to switch around each time another patch was loading and add some visuals to the discussion as well. This time, not as much had gone over his head as had when Yutaka had first explained it all…but the situation now was so much more fragile, with even a card over the limit potentially disruptive to the Gate they were so close to opening.

They really couldn't wait any longer, perhaps because everything they were working towards hinged on one final duel at one final place. The only place where they'd have such fine control: where they'd set the Gate to open up.

The D-scanner was connected, and the message quickly sent. They kept it brief, as they always had. Who knew how it could affect the barrier, though the short bursts of information had been tested meticulously to pre-empt that very moment.

But science wasn't perfect, and Kouichi was one of the last people who would put his faith in science, having experienced things far greater first hand. The metaphysical, the impossible…the miracle.

It was those things he was banking on, but even such things required a foundation. And even Yutaka, a man of science through and through, trusted his fate to luck. After all, even the greatest discoveries of the scientific world began on an incidence of luck.

In retrospect, Yutaka was relieved he wasn't riding his bicycle through a kaleidoscope of colour and unbalanced vision in a too-real thriller ride home from work.

* * *

The ferry wasn't particularly packed, probably owing to the fact that school was sin the middle of a semester and therefore Duel Academia students would not be heading to or from the island. It was also not a delivery day – although those were made by air anyway. Rather, the ferry once a week wasn't even exclusive to Duel Academia, though Kaiba Seto had arranged it to always stop at the island for parents who might have something to bring up with the Principal…or students trying to run away.

Some people though Kaiba enjoyed hearing about the punishment duels dished out.

Regardless, the ferry was also useful for guests of the Academia, people like Judai who would otherwise have to arrange their own transportation to the Island.

Although, he wouldn't have exactly minded…

'Uurgh,' Judai groaned. 'It's not that I get seasick or anything, but it's a little unsettling being on such a slow boat.'

'You haven't been on one for three years, have you?' Yubel asked. Incorporeal, she couldn't feel the gentle turmoil of the ferry's floor.

'Nope.' Judai sighed and left the sea. 'I always did prefer the speedboats, and now I know why.'

Pharoah mewled at him, the yellow ball of light that was once the headmaster of the Orisis Dorm trapped safely inside.

'Yo, kid.' A few men around a table gestured at him. 'How's your draw?'

'The best,' Judai grinned, glad for the distraction. Standing watching the waves simply wasn't for him.

'Then throw down some chips. We need some new blood here.'

Yubel sighed. 'Judai, gambling is very unbecoming.'

'It's the fun of it,' the brunet shrugged, making sure to keep his voice down and lips unmoving so the sharp-eyed gamblers wouldn't pick it up. He poked around for some loose change, slapping it onto the table before accepting the cards. 'All right…'

'Do you even know how to play?'

'Of course I do.'

Yubel sighed again. 'I don't want to know who taught you.'

'Manyjoume actually.'

The spirit shook her head.

* * *

Kouichi stuck to the back of the ship; he liked watching the waves, but the front deck was always so crowded and he also liked some time to himself. Especially when his heart was beating loudly enough to drown out a quiet conversation. It matched the description his classmates used to give before an exam – something he hadn't really felt because he hadn't (though he hadn't realised it until after he left school) cared about his grades nearly as much. Still, he managed to score well enough to pass every subject, sometimes with Bs and the distinguished A, but while he could fill his head with a fountain of information it simply wasn't taking him anywhere. He'd come further in the year or so he'd spent out of school than he had with his entire junior high school education.

The water was choppy, thanks to the engine, and he watched the small bouts lap over each other in the dim light. It was something to focus on, something to distract him with. Something to take his mind away from the long journey that followed.

The hike would be something; it had been the first time after all. And then a duel at the very top, in the gates where he'd set the strange and nameless devices up. Finding an opponent up there would be a bit of a blind walk, but Shinya pointed out that all he really had to do was cause a large enough distraction to get _someone_ up there.

In other words, he had to play the part of the villain, as crazy as it all sounded. He almost thought it would be simpler to just explain the whole story…and with Duel Academia's history, it wasn't all that farfetched. But something would be lacking then: the force that existed in all of them when they were fighting for something, that selfish reason that could turn outward into selflessness.

They just couldn't risk it. Not then. And it would be easy; too easy in fact.

The night air was cold, and he wondered if his own thoughts were making it colder…but it didn't matter. It was for his family after all: the five children dearer to his heart than anything.

And the other two were waiting as well, eyes glued to the computer screen. Their timing had to be exact, and two sets of eyes were always better after all. Three boys: three brothers, each so very different, but they would make it work.

* * *

It was near afternoon the following day by the time the boat docked, but Kouichi didn't feel rested at all. It was difficult to sleep on moving things, and it didn't help that he'd spent the previous night on a inter-city train either, but the walk up to the old ruins was good for waking him up, and he was feeling largely refreshed once he reached the top.

Though he realised how out of shape he was when he simply had to sit down once reaching the top. It had taken more out of him than he realised. The wind was a little sharper than he had realised walking, and stung his face a little – but beggars couldn't be choosers as his mother always said, and he enjoyed the coldness on his flushed face.

Until he realised the wind was wailing – quite literally – and the stinging was starting to hurt, and his eyes snapped open again.

'Kouichi!' Yutaka's voice suddenly shouted in his ear, as the elder twin stared in shock. 'What's going on there?'

'Spirits!' the other cried, tripping backwards as a shadowy hand reached for him. White – all of them were white, save the hollows that were their eyes and nose and mouth – but they were slowly taking shape, and some of the more distinguishable monsters were easily recognised. Like the pieces of Exodia. 'Duel Spirits!'

'Tell me you're joking.' There was some tapping, before Yutaka's voice returned. 'It looks like all that energy we've been collecting for the gate has riled them up.'

Kouichi winced as the wind grew fiercer, backing away. The small typhoon-like congregation remained restricted without the boundaries they had drawn all that time ago, but considering they hadn't been corporeal not minutes before, it had the potential to spiral out of control very rapidly.

It was reminding Kouichi of the labyrinth of mirrors in Cherubimon's castle, the poor mindless spirits that were incised by the presence of the spirit he carried and just harmless wraiths elsewise. Spirits that ultimately had to be destroyed because they were nothing but threads of a past that could never be restored. Spirits that silenced themselves to spare their saviours the horror of hearing that final scream…

'Try Swords of Revealing Light,' Yutaka suggested. 'There should be enough residual energy for your cards to materialise.'

Kouichi did so, and the swords shot out of the sky to trap the spinning vortex of limbs and gaping holes. And for a moment, it seemed as though that would force them back into ground, but that was when they underestimated the wrath of mindless drones.

Maybe, if they were the real deal and not shadows of a past in the ground, then it might have been the end of them as they bowed to the whims of the heaven. But as it were all they sensed was life and power, and those things drew them out of the ground and into a much larger world.

'The swords are breaking.' His voice sounded calm, but inside he was panicking. If the spirits got to the school, then a lot of innocent lives could be in danger, and he had no right to bring that sort of trouble upon them. It wasn't necessary; it was just a side-effect because they had managed to miss something. 'I can't let them past.'

'Of course you – ' Yutaka stopped, suddenly suspicious on top of paramount worry. 'Wait a sec, what are you - ?'

Kouichi ignored him, flipping through his cards as quickly as possible before drawing up the three he needed. Threads of wind broke out, one coming close to his cheek and he side-stepped it, allowing the device in his ear to be knocked out instead. It was partially incidental, but he was glad nonetheless. He knew what Yutaka would say, the same thing he had said the last time they had stood at their respective posts, but in this case there simply weren't that many options.

'Lightning Vortex,' he murmured, slotting the card into his spell and trap card zone, discarding another to the grave. The whirlwind emerged from the gigantic holographic version, but it was quickly dispelled by what looked to be a member of the Silent Magician family.

That complicated things further, and Mirror Force was taken out similarly, leaving him with only one option. If neither spell nor trap worked, then there was only one other type of card: a monster card. But for no monster on the other field to negate its effect –

He slid two cards facedown, before playing a new spell. His ritual spell: End of the World. But he wasn't summoning Ruin, Queen of Oblivion, but rather…

He took a deep breath, before calling out the card name. 'Demise, King of Armageddon!'

The fiend roared, and a few monsters immediately shrunk away in fright.

'I activate your special ability.'

The imposing figure turned, and Kouichi gave it a small nod.

2000 lifepoints, and every other card on the field would be destroyed. In a duel it could very well be a small price to pay…or a risk not worth taking. In reality, what price could it cost? A quarter of one's life-span? Or something more immediate? He didn't know, but there wasn't much else he could do but hope it was the latter and that that latter wasn't a crippling cost to pay.

'Go! Destroy them all!'

He really did pity them; they seemed even more like those wraiths from the Digital World, especially when several broke free from the destruction and reached for him.

He had Divine Wrath and Skill Drain to stop them.

* * *

Judai hadn't expected the sudden vortex of spirits at the site of the Old Ruins, though the abnormal spirit activity around campus was why he had arrived.

He quickly broke into a sprint, leaving his bag near the Orisis Dorms. No doubt whoever Samijima had sent for him would spot it…though he didn't know why the Principal hadn't been able to see him immediately. Although he was running a school…

'It seems more of an emergency than your Principal mentioned,' Yubel said, frowning.

'Yes.' Judai was confused; he couldn't see why then, of all times. 'Funny it was when we got to the Orisis Dorms.

'I'd say it was a welcome back party for you, but…' Yubel cut her sentence off as black suddenly streaked the typhoon of light, swallowing it hole. 'It's gone now.'

'I know,' Judai said quietly. 'I felt it.'

'Not the ones before.'

'No.'

Yubel slowed down as Judai clamoured over some rocks. 'I don't think they were real spirits,' she said quietly. 'I didn't feel them either; just saw them. They were just phantoms, little shreds left behind as duellists grow and change, and games evolve. Buried in the ground we walk upon until some great power or force awakens them.'

'You make it sound almost like the Dark Army,' Judai quipped, though his tone was sadder underneath. He knew well that the Dark Army hadn't risen from its slumber until his soul, filled with turmoil, had entered the Dark World.

'In a way,' Yubel agreed, 'so I wonder who that boy is looking for.'

Judai finally made it up, looking at the figure crouched near the gates – seemingly picking up something, inspecting it and then putting it in his ear – with little to no surprise at all.

'Yes, I wonder that too, but it would be hypocritical to try and stop him on an account of danger…and a little presumptuous, since we don't know that's what he's doing.'

'I think you have a gut feeling though.'

Judai straightened, dusting his jacket off before making his presence known. 'Yes, I do. I also have a gut feeling telling me I've seen him before.'

'That would be because you have,' Yubel replied as the other straightened before turning to him. The darkness was still in the sky, blackening the clouds and covering the sun, so even as the boy turned Judai couldn't see his face. No doubt if he took Yubel's vision, or even his own golden counterpart to the usual chocolate brown, he would be able to…but he sensed no malice or ill will, and well, he always preferred letting things run their natural course.

Albeit, he wasn't too keen on the waiting aspects of those. That was one part he didn't mind rushing through.


	6. Chapter 5: Lust

**A/N:** I have used the anime effect of Spell Calling, going from how Judai used it in season 2. The TCG effect is a little different: "When this face-down card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard by the effect of a Spell or Trap Card controlled by your opponent, select 1 Quick-Play Spell Card from your Deck and Set it after showing it to your opponent.". Judai set 2 cards, and he never showed them to his opponent – although at the time it didn't matter what they were. I've kept the stipulation that they must be quick play spells, however I'm still using 2 instead of the one defined by the TCG card text. Because Judai's deck is so different in TCG, I've stuck with the anime on this issue, even though other matters like Prisma being a level 4 and Necroshade being a level 5 do not come up in this fic.

Also, Kouichi is not a reincarnation of Gentle Darkness in this fic although he is the warrior of Darkness and in essence (as far as most of my crossover material goes) it is the same thing. Rather, it is AncientSphinxmon who is the embodiment of the reincarnation, and its spirit that reincarnated in Lowemon and bonded with Kouichi. In other words, Kouichi becomes Lowemon, but he isn't Lowemon ultimately. The spirits separated after the defeat of Lucemon, proving they, despite the connections, are separate to the human form. So it's Lowemon who's really the reincarnation of Gentle Darkness, and hence Yubel does not recognise Kouichi. The backstory with AncientSphinxmon is something I plan to address in Before the Seal is Broken…or its sequel probably.

* * *

**Lines to Cross**

**Chapter 5  
Lust**

Judai could see the situation had been diffused, however he could not see exactly how, nor could he see clearly what had stirred the spirits up from their resting place. He could tell though that the earth had been destroyed as there was soil scattered everywhere, and Hane Kuriboh was strangely anxious as he looked around.

Yubel, as always, never strayed far from him, even as he made his way to the middle, where the only other person in the area was removing a card from his duel disk.

'He is powerful,' Yubel commented.

'I see,' Judai replied, although in truth he did not see. The duellist – for he must be a duellist, and with a new duel disk model from Industrial Illusions (as far as he knew, it wasn't even on the market yet), must have had a reason for being all the way out at the ruins, particularly on a privately owned island. 'You're not a student here, are you?'

'Really Judai,' Yubel sighed, as the other shook his head.

'Well,' Judai shrugged. 'It doesn't hurt to ask, does it?'

The duel spirit did not answer, instead looking at the stranger – or not a stranger, as they did know his name – who was in turn looking at her. Or through her; it was a little hard to tell whether or not he could actually see her or not. His expression was too closed for that; with people like Judai or Johan or even Manjyoume, it was quite easy to tell.

'So,' Judai continued. 'If you're not a student, then what are you doing here?'

'That's my business,' the other replied, though not rudely. 'If you'd entertain me with a duel though, I'll tell you.'

'A duel?' The brunet looked around. 'Did you have something to do with the spirits suddenly going crazy?'

'Maybe,' the other replied, showing he wasn't going to give any answers without the duel. He probably would have even activated his duel disk if the duel disk hadn't already been armed.

'Well.' Judai shrugged. 'Why not; I never back down from a duel…though I would like to know what that is for.' He pointed to the small machine floating about the ruins.

'It's not dangerous if that's what you mean,' the other responded. 'It's a prototype from Industrial Illusions.'

And indeed, they could see the small insignia when it floated a little closer.

'For?' Judai asked, before giving it up as a lost cause as he was answered by silence. 'So we'll let our cards do the talking.' He armed his duel disk. 'Kimura Kouichi, was it?'

The other blinked in surprise, but his voice did not betray that emotion. 'Yes,' was the simple answer. 'And you are Yuki Judai, yes?'

'I guess my reputation precedes me once again,' Judai responded sheepishly. 'Only this time, no-one's trying to blast me with cool looking dragons.'

The other looked vaguely startled, but the demeanour was starting to remind Judai an awful lot of Marufuji Ryou during his first year at Duel Academy and the older male's final.

'Is something funny?' The tone was neutral, but they made the brunet aware of the small smile that was stretching across his face.

'Oh, no.' Judai waved a hand before changing the motion to draw five cards from his deck. 'You just reminded me of Kaiser.'

'Hell Kaiser Ryou,' Kouichi said slowly, before shaking his head. 'A man who duels to win and only to win. A man who puts his heart into this game…trust me, I am far from being someone like that.' He drew a sixth card, beginning the duel before the other could go off on a tangent again. 'I set a monster and two face downs. Turn end.'

Judai drew a card and contemplated. On the one hand, he knew what sort of deck the other ran. On the other hand, his own deck wasn't exactly well equipped to counter that strategy once it was set up. The best thing to do was to break through the stalling phase before the cards were set up correctly; while it would be interesting to see how his heroes did against a life-draining deck (other than Ayukawa's, whose they had only briefly seen because of the situation), once the ball got rolling his chances of his high level monsters dealing damage would be limited.

'I activate Fake Hero,' he said, revealing the card he had drawn. 'And use it to summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman. And by Bubbleman's effect, I draw two cards.' He was pleased to find Polymerisation as one of them, but he had a different play in mind for that turn. 'I equip Grade Sword to Bubbleman, then sacrifice him to summon the Elemental Hero Blade-Edge.'

'Impatient as always,' Yubel teased.

'No point in having cards if you don't use them,' Judai countered, before ordering an attack. The set monster revealed itself to be A Cat of Ill Omen, and it was destroyed for 2300 points of penetrating damage.

'I activate A Cat of Ill Omen's flip effect,' Kouichi said, removing his deck. 'I select a trap card from my deck and place it on top.'

Judai was a little surprised to find the card to be The Eye of Truth, but that simply meant the other must already have Bad Reaction to Simochi in his hand…or face down on the field.

'I play one card face down,' Judai said. 'Turn end.'

'My turn.' Kouichi drew, a card whose identity they both knew. 'I play two more facedown cards and that's it.'

'I know I'm going to get sick of those facedowns,' Judai sighed, drawing a card before blinking at R-Righteous Justice, then again as Bad Reaction to Simochi and The Eye of Truth revealed themselves on the other's field. He showed his hand thereafter, showing not only the spell that could destroy that combination (if the other didn't have Dark Bribe facedown), but Polymerisation, Neo Spacian Aqua Dolphin and O-Oversoul. All spell cards; any one of them could trigger the second effect of The Eye of Truth and, when combined with Bad Reaction to Simochi, decrease his life points by 1000.

As he moved into his main phase, he played R-Righteous Justice. 'I target –' He broke off as Kouichi revealed the third of his four cards: Imperial Customs. 'Imperial Customs,' he finished, seeing as the continuous trap didn't allow any other continuous trap cards to be destroyed. 'Now, Blade-Edge attacks directly.'

Kouichi's lifepoints dropped to 3100, but he didn't seem concerned. Indeed, he simply revealed the last of his trap cards: The Golden Apples. 'When I take damage without a monster in play,' he said. 'I can activate this trap and special summon a token with the same attack and defence points as the damage I just took, and then regain that many life points.'

His lifepoints rose back to 5700 and now Blade Edge was at a stale mate.

'I play two cards face down and end my turn.' If nothing else, at least he could avoid the life point cost if he drew a monster or a trap next turn.

Kouichi drew a new card. 'I play Upstart Goblin,' he said, and Judai's life points sunk to 6000 as Kouichi drew a card, then leeched another thousand life points with Meteor of Destruction. 'Turn end.'

'You'd better hurry up and do something about this,' Yubel commented.

'I know, I know,' Judai muttered. 'It's harder than his looks, but I trust my deck.'

'I should think so.'

Judai drew Convert Contact, which cost another thousand life points before he activated it, discarding Aqua Dolphin from his hand and Neo Spacian Dark Panther from his deck to draw two cards. 'I play H-Heated Heart, raising Blade-Edge's attack points by five hundred, and then I attack your token.'

Kouichi's life points dropped to 5200 as the defending monster was blasted into pieces.

'Turn end,' Judai said, showing the final card in his hand to be Neo-Spacian Glow Moss.

Kouichi drew his next card, playing Dark World Dealings. 'I discard the Fabled Catsith, triggering its ability and destroying one card on the field. I select the face down card you played in the first turn.'

The face down card shattered, revealing itself to be The Flute of Summoning Kuriboh. Hane Kuriboh's voice hummed in his aibou's ears as he sent both his partner's calling card and Elemental Hero Neos to the grave.

Although, he had to wonder why the other hadn't targeted O-Oversoul.

'Next, I activate the equip spell Soul Taker. I target your face up Blade-Edge, then destroy it and you gain – lose – 1000 life points.'

He ended his turn after playing the last card in his hand facedown, and Judai drew Neo-Space, a card he was both relieved and a little pained to see. After all, it did cost him 1000 life points, leaving him with 3000. Luckily, or faithfully rather, he had the cards he needed to destroy that combination. Although the newest facedown was, as usual, an issue.

'I play O-Oversoul, summoning Elemental Hero Neos from my graveyard, and then I summon Neo Spacian Glow Moss. Now, Contact Fusion! I summon Glow Neos from my extra deck.'

'Contact fusion,' the other repeated, before starting suddenly. 'Huh?'

'I said –' Judai began, but the other waved a hand at him.

'Sorry,' he said, covering one ear before turning his head slightly and muttering something too quiet to be picked up.

* * *

Yutaka found himself abandoning his work and focusing all his energy on his…it was far from an extra-curricular research project, even if that was what it was written as. But he had been rather surprised to find the spike of energy…and a little panicked, because he knew the portal couldn't handle large bursts of energy. After all, the destabilisations during the previous year had caused a great deal of collateral damage both in terms of duel monsters and the land as a whole. It was in fact the reason why the deck was structured as it was, and why Kouichi, who continuously held himself back, was the best person to use it. While it was true they could have used other cards to manage the same feat, those were what responded best and they had helped their cause.

However, it seemed whoever Kouichi was duelling was another matter entirely, and while it was always a gamble with opponents and he varied the input accordingly, he had never seen such a high spike. In fact, it matched…

He quickly snatched up his communicator, apparently startling the younger boy.

'Who in the world are you duelling?'

'Huh?' came the incoherent reply.

'Who are you duelling?' Yutaka said, a little more slowly. 'Whoever it is is going to wind up costing me overtime.' His fingers rapidly flew across the keyboard as he spoke.

'Oh,' the other said. 'I – ' Kouichi broke the line of thought. 'Yuki Judai.'

'Yuki Judai,' Yutaka repeated. '_The_ Yuki Judai. How the heck did that –' He stopped talking suddenly as he picked up the conversation going on across from him. 'Hey you two, what was that?'

The two men stared at him. 'Duel Academia,' one said. 'You know stuff's always happening over there.'

'You said something about spirits,' Yutaka said.

'Well…yes,' the other replied. 'I suppose you didn't hear. The Principal called Pegasus-sama about it; apparently, restless spirits suddenly appeared, went on a minor rampage, and disappeared.'

'Spirits,' Yutaka repeated. 'Duel Academia. Right, thanks.' He turned back to his desk, returning his attention to the task at hand and Kouichi. 'You wouldn't have had anything to do with this, would you?'

There was a brief silence, then: 'Did you forget who I'm duelling?' He sounded a little distracted.

'Did you forget who you're talking to?' was the dry reply, although a small pit stone sunk in Yutaka's stomach as the other avoided the question. That meant he had done something he didn't want the other knowing about.

'No, I – ' There was a pause, and then: 'Well –'

'Hang on,' Yutaka interrupted, staring at the monitor. 'Are you still duelling?'

'Yes,' the other replied.

'Stop!'

There was a sharp intake of breath as, hopefully, the two duellists did just that.

* * *

Kouichi replied to the other while turning back to the duel at the same time. With a wave of acknowledgement, Judai continued with his turn.

'I activate Neo Space, so Glow Neos won't return to my deck at the end phase,' he said. 'In addition, it gains 500 attack points, and now I can activate its special ability, destroying one card on the field for every turn it's out on the field. I select Bad Reaction to Simochi, and since it's a trap card, Glow Neos switches into defence position.'

'Before you activate your effect,' Kouichi said, covering the earpiece to avoid a more complicated discussion. 'I activate Emergency Provisions, sacrificing both Bad Reaction to Simochi and The Eye of Truth to gain 2000 life points.'

'Nice,' Judai commented. 'But at least that trap is gone now, so I do have to wonder how you plan on damaging me now.'

'You'll see,' the other responded, drawing. 'I play Pot of Greed.' He drew two cards and glanced at them, 'then a facedown and end my turn.'

Judai drew, wondering if the facedown was another trap. Still, it was probably safer to take it out as far as a deck almost completely reliant on spells and traps went.

'I use Glow Neos' effect, destroying your facedown card.'

'Spell Calling,' Kouichi replied, showing the spell. 'When it's destroyed by my opponent's effect, I can select two spell cards from my deck and play them facedown.'

'And since Glow Neos destroyed a spell card,' Judai responded. 'He can attack you directly.'

Kouichi's life points dropped to 2500.

'Turn end,' Judai said.

'My turn.' Kouichi drew his card, choosing not to play it immediately and instead revealing the two quick-play spells he had played in the previous turn. 'I play Scapegoat to summon four earth tokens in defence mode, and then I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to target your field spell: Neospace.'

'I use Glow Neos' effect to destroy an earth token,' Judai said, a little disappointed. Without Neospace, his Contact monsters would return to the deck at the end phase.'

'Shards of Greed,' the other continued with his turn. 'Each time I draw a card in the draw phase, I place a Greed counter on this card, then I can send this card with two or more Greed counters to the graveyard and draw two additional cards.'

Judai drew Graceful Charity and considered the other cards in his hand. 'I play E-Emergency Call,' he said, 'and add Elemental Hero Sparkman to my hand, and then I activate Graceful Charity to draw three cards from my deck and discard two.' He was pleased to find Dark Factory of Mass Production and Elemental Hero Burstinatrix amongst them, and chose to send the latter and Elemental Hero Avian to the graveyard. 'Next, I play Dark Factory of Mass Production, returning Avian and Burstinatrix to my hand, and then I activate my facedown Polymerisation to fuse Avian and Burstinatrix to summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman.'

It was, from the standpoint of a quick duel, a shame that Judai didn't have Spark Gun in his hand, however he was curious to see how the other would damage him without his ace trap.

'Both my heroes attack your tokens.' And they did so, leaving only one behind. 'I play one facedown. Turn end.'

'My –' Kouichi began, before jumping a little at Yutaka's sudden explanation. 'Don't be so sudden.'

'Gomen,' Yutaka responded. 'But go slowly from now on; the energy is reaching critical levels.'

'Critical, as in…?' Somehow, it seemed a little unreal, but then again, Kouichi wasn't as patient as most people seemed inclined to believe. 'Finally…'

'Be careful,' the other cautioned. 'Remember, even one card over the limit can destabilise it.'

'I know,' Kouichi said, fighting to keep his voice even. 'I play a facedown and end my turn.'

'My turn.' Spark Gun. 'I equip Spark Gun to Sparkman, and use its effect to switch your token into attack mode, and then I attack it.'

'Waboku,' the other countered, flipping up his face-down card. 'My monsters cannot be destroyed this turn and I take no battle damage either.'

'Turn end,' Judai said.

Kouichi drew his next card. 'With two counters, I can send Shards of Greed to the graveyard and draw two additional cards.' He paused, finding the small prototype machine hovering nearer than ever. 'Yutaka –'

'Good timing,' the other replied, accompanied by the sound of rapid typing. 'That should be enough – hang on.'

'Your machine's going crazy,' Kouichi said, eyeing the beeping contraction as it danced – literally danced – to the middle of the duelling field. 'Please,' he muttered to it. 'Don't fail…'

Yutaka said nothing; apparently, whatever was happening on his monitor was enough to keep him fully occupied.

'What in the world?' Judai said, and even Yubel looked a little bewildered.

Kouichi looked down. 'Over a year ago,' he began. 'Five teenagers disappeared. The authorities eventually gave it up as a lost cause, because they simply vanished off the face of the earth…'

His hands shook slightly as he continued. 'Everyone said they were dead,' he continued, his voice still trembling a little at the thought. 'But those people – they are very dear to me – they're more important to me than _anyone_ – and I didn't – couldn't believe it. And then, one day –'

'You found out they were alive?' Judai guessed. 'You spoke of Kaiser the same way Edo did when we were working with the interdimensional duel system.' He looked at the small machine, who was now shooting a thin beam of light into the sky. 'They're in another dimension and you're trying to open the door to get them back.'

Judai had to admit it; he was impressed. It wasn't like the materials had been conveniently at one's disposal…unless he'd already tried and failed the reckless way.

'Yes,' the other confirmed. 'A world we had once all visited years ago, but my body has never been there. Only my soul. And that world was in trouble again, and so their guardians called upon them again…but the Gate was damaged, and they became trapped on the other side with no way of fixing it. So instead, I – we – are trying to open it from this side instead.'

Judai looked at the machines. 'You're not pulling a Cobra, are you?'

'I should take personal offence to that,' Yubel muttered, causing both boys to look at her. 'So, you can see duel spirits.'

'Hmm…' Judai said thoughtfully. 'How did you manage to pull this off then?'

Yubel would have stared at the human in disbelief, but the other had started explaining.

'Duel energy,' Kouichi said simply. 'I had no idea how to do it myself, but Yutaka-san, the older brother of one of my friends, works at Industrial Illusions. He knew about the interdimensional duel system, and so he asked Pegasus-sama for a favour, got access to the research materials and modified them so – hopefully – they wouldn't cause the damage that occurred the last time. And with the matter of the duel energy, he realised it would be better if the energy was slowly collected as opposed to a powerful burst at once; there was a lower likelihood then of destabilising the portal and causing collateral damage then. But still, we hadn't realised that the energy would still awaken all the spirits that have been laid to rest on this island.' He gritted his teeth slightly. 'We never wanted that to happen, but…'

'But you probably still would have gone ahead with it, because some restless spirits causing a few minutes of chaos is worth getting your friends back home.' Judai smiled slightly. 'Good thing you're not as reckless as me. Or this friend of yours.'

'I'll say,' Yubel agreed. 'But then again, sounds to me like Kimura-san knew his friends were safe and sound, and you did not.'

Kouichi nodded at that.

Judai shrugged. 'Still, after the possibility that they could have been dead for months – or weeks – I'd have been climbing walls.' He reconsidered. 'Actually, I wouldn't have even waited that long. But…how did you get calm the spirits down? And why didn't you just tell us all this sooner…not that it really mattered,' he amended. 'Since you needed the duel and all, but –' He paused as the sky lit up in an array of colours. 'What the –'

'That's it,' Yutaka said through the earpiece, and Kouichi repeated the words, holding his breath. Between the duellists who had now abandoned the duel, the machine hovered at the centre of the ripples of colour.

'I'd say that looks cool,' Judai said slowly, staring at the display. 'But – it looks cool.'

Yubel would normally have said something to that, but she was too busy keeping an eye on the slowly opening portal. While she had to give credit to the kid and whoever he had worked with for not rushing the issue, she couldn't be pleased that Judai was now in the centre of it. She really would rather not have to get lost in a dimension she had no knowledge about…although the possibilities of the portal leading to such a world were slim. She knew almost all the worlds that existed after all, chasing after and protecting the numerous reincarnations of the Gentle Darkness. She didn't fancy going into a new one with the one who had banished the light though.

Still, she needn't have worried as the portal seemed to be too high in the sky to suck them in. However…

'I do believe your friends are going to be squashed by gravity,' she commented, watching the small black dots in the centre becoming rapidly bigger and stretching her own wings, ignoring the gasp of horrific surprise and turning to Judai and fading into him. The brown eyes turned dichromatic and Elemental Heroes Sparkman and Flame Wingman became solid as they flew into the air, and between them, managed to catch the falling humans.

Once they set them down, they turned back into holograms, leaving five disoriented teens to gain their bearing for a mere moment – before Kouichi knocked them off their feet, attempting to hug them all at once.

'Oww,' the dark skinned brunet groaned. 'Kouichi, couldn't you have done something about that landing?'

'Well, I didn't know that you all were going to fall out of the sky,' the other exclaimed.

'They should at least thank you,' Yubel sighed, materialising again.

'Ah, leave them be,' Judai laughed. 'If I hadn't seen my friends for years because they were stuck in another dimension, I'd probably be just as –' He stopped when Yubel raised an eyebrow. 'Okay, that's different.'

'It is,' Yubel agreed. 'Or was, depending on which you're talking about.'

* * *

The confusion of voices stemmed off as everyone regained their bearings…and Kouichi took the opportunity to sink to the ground. He was, to be honest, feeling the slightest bit dizzy. Perhaps it was the relief, or maybe he had bee running on adrenaline the whole time…or maybe he had cried a little too long, because he'd pretty much burst into tears with the first hug.

'We'll find a way to make sure this never happens again,' Kouji whispered in his ear.

'You had better,' Kouichi retorted back, feeling exhausted. 'Trying to be patient was driving me a little crazy.'

'Ack,' Junpei muttered from behind them. 'My stomach's still doing backflips. I don't think I'll be able to look at pancakes again.'

A snort that didn't come from the six of them made Kouichi suddenly jump to his feet. 'Oh,' he exclaimed, before hurriedly bowing. 'I'm so sorry; thank you for your help.'

'No worries,' Judai replied. 'My job's helping people, though I admit that was a bit of a new one.' After a pause, he added: 'if you don't mind, can I get the rest of the duel and an explanation? The Principal's going to want one too.'

The five others stared at Kouichi, who groaned, then attempted to glare at his earpiece when the connection died. Either Yutaka was taking a breather or calling Shinya and their parents, having surmised what had happened from the chaos of voices, but that didn't change the fact that it left him with all the explaining.

'I believe it was your turn,' Judai said, as the others crawled out of the way, looking rather bemused.

'I'll make this quick then,' the other said.

'So no more stalling? Good to hear.' Judai grinned. 'Long duels are fun, but not when you're not having fun and giving it your all.'

'Fun?' the other repeated, before smiling in return. 'I think I see what you mean. Anyway, I play the Ritual Spell Card: End of the World, sacrificing Ruin, Queen of Oblivion from my hand to summon Demise, King of Armageddon. And by sacrificing 2000 life points, every card on the field other than it is destroyed.'

'So much for Elemental Mirage,' Judai said remorsefully, staring at his facedown card. 'Good thing I'll still have another 600 life points left.'

Kouji and Izumi both gaped as the hologram field rushed at Judai, weapon raised. Tomoki was however quick to explain it was simply a hologram, glad that Junpei and Takuya were a little more up to date with the game. Enough to know about the duel disks anyway; he hadn't gotten around to showing anyone other than Junpei his own model, but Yutaka got along well enough with Kouichi to show things and the Kanbara brothers were as obsessed with games as the Himi pair. Still, it was only him and Takuya actually following – of a sort – the duel in progress; they had after all, missed the start, and it was still rather dizzying to suddenly be back in the real world.

It was probably better than being overwhelmed by well meaning parents though, so a deserted – somewhere – was probably the best place to hang around for a little bit. And watching a duel didn't hurt either. And they were seeing Kouichi, who they hadn't for quite a while. For Kouji especially, that was more than enough.

'I'll end my turn with a facedown card,' Kouichi said, playing his one remaining card.

'My turn,' Judai said, drawing once it was clear the other could do nothing else, and displaying the card. 'Miracle Fusion, activate. I fuse Elemental Hero Sparkman with Elemental Hero Flame Wingman in my graveyard to summon Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman. And sure, they're removed from play, but there are three other heroes that can give my monster an attack point boost, and when it destroys a monster in battle –'

'The opponent takes damage equal to its attack strength,' the other finished, watching the shining knight tear down his fiend. 'Magic Cylinder stops your attack and reflects it back.'

'Defusion,' the other hurriedly played, splitting his fusion monster into, much to his opponent's and anyone who was following's surprise, Sparkman and Flame Wingman.

'How..?' Kouichi began.

'With this.' Judai revealed the second card he had played: Burial from a Different Dimension. 'I returned Sparkman and Flame Wingman to my graveyard, just in time to call them out in defence mode.' He paused. 'And that's it for this turn.'

Kouichi drew and played the monster: Copycat. 'I select Flame Wingman as its target,' he said. 'So he now gains 2100 attack points. Now, attack it attacks Sparkman, and my Demise can take care of your Flame Wingman.'

Judai drew, before grinning and showing his card.

'Hero Flash?' Kouichi repeated.

'Yep,' the other replied. 'And judging from your tone, I guess you don't know what it does, so let me explain. I remove H-Heated Heart, E-Emergency Call, R-Righteous Justice and O-Oversoul from my graveyard, then select one Elemental Hero monster in my deck and special summon it.' He raised his duel disk. 'I select Elemental Hero Neos, and then the second ability of Hero Flash kicks in, allowing all Elemental Heroes I have out to attack you directly.'

They all watched the neo warrior to appear in a flash of brilliant light and karate chop through Kouichi, dropping his life points to zero while the holograms faded. After a moment of staring at the single digit, he shrugged. 'It's a bit of a shame –' He sank to his knees on the spot.

'- that after duelling for the sake of duelling alone, it didn't last very long?' Judai asked, coming up. 'This doesn't have to be the end though; for whatever reason you started duelling, you're a duellist now…err, after being a friend and all of course.' He rubbed the back of his head. 'Now, explanation time?'

'I think Kouichi would rather go to bed,' the younger twin spoke up finally, glaring as if daring the other to disagree. 'And quite frankly, so would I.'

There were a few mumbled agreements.

'Not here,' the blonde moaned. 'The Digital World is one thing, but even there we weren't sleeping on broken rock.'

'You're in for quite a hike then,' Kouichi said tiredly, sitting down on one of the said rocks. 'I don't fancy it at all.'

'You won't have to,' Judai said with a laugh. 'I admit the picture is pretty funny, but Principal Samejima is coming up here…along with a few other people.'

Kouichi just groaned and mumbled something into his hands.

'But first, can I get the rest of your names? I don't want to be calling you guys black haired guy, brown haired guys 1, 2 and 3 and blonde girl.'

Takuya for one thought he would like the other a lot more if he was feeling 100%. At the time though, he was wondering if others found him this annoying at times.


	7. The End: Sloth

**A/N:** And that's it. This one's structured the same as "The Beginning" because there's just a bunch of random scenes as opposed to a free flowing chapter…except there's more dialogue because the mood is lighter.

* * *

**Lines to Cross**

**The End  
Sloth**

'And that's what happened,' Judai finished.

Not surprisingly, most of the explaining had fallen upon him, as the odd group of teens were slumped over in various positions and spaces in the Orisis dorms (his old room to be precise) and fast asleep, having nodded off some time during the story telling.

Fujiwara was there as well, one of the few people still attending Duel Academia who could see monster spirits; it was him after all who had notified the Principal to the slight problem. As was Samejima himself, as it was his business to know what happened at his academy. There were a few new people as well, a first year Orisis who reminded him of a mix of himself and Sho back in their freshman years, and the new Head of Orisis…who was coincidently an old friend of his. Although it had come as quite a shock, seeing Osamu innocently lounging there, and the pair had spent a good five minutes lightly bickering until the Principal brought them back to the matter at hand.

'I assume there's nothing to be concerned about then.' Samejima looked towards the ruins. 'No harm done.'

'Not at all sir,' Judai replied. 'Although it did give me a start seeing those guys suddenly fly out of the sky.'

'I'll say,' Yubel agreed, although the Principal couldn't hear her. 'Gave the other kid more than that.'

'I'll say,' Judai mimicked, looking over at Kouichi. 'But really, after all the trouble he went to to get his friends back…and all in all, nothing really happened and everyone's happy.'

Samejima shook his head; only Judai would think that little scare with the spirits was "nothing".

'Still, maybe this means we can see Misawa again…'

'I think you'll have to take that one up with Pegasus-san.'

* * *

'So how did you get rid of those spirits?' Judai asked, having managed to corner the younger duellist.

'I'm not going to get out of this one, am I?' Kouichi sighed.

'Nope,' the other said cheerfully.

'Well…'

Yubel eyed the boy curiously, particularly as he suddenly spoke very fast. 'I knew the area had lots of duel energy, so I summoned Demise.'

'You summoned…' Judai's voice trailed off. 'Cool, but how did –' He suddenly face-palmed. 'Its special effect; of course. But how did you pay the cost? It's not like you were in a real duel.'

'Life energy, right?' Yubel said, still a little confused. She didn't see any lacking in the boy's life force.

'Uhh…yes, but it's not – well…it gets complicated.'

'I've got time.' Judai's curiosity would not be sated.

Kouichi sighed, before explaining the Digital World. And Judai was not a quiet audience like his mother; it took him the whole afternoon with the questions and interruptions. And then it was explaining what Ofanimon had done to revive him and the extra force he had been carrying around once his own life recovered.

* * *

'You dropped out of school!'

Kouji's shout made his brother wince a little.

'Really,' he sighed. 'I can hear you just fine without shouting.'

'But…'

Takuya punched Kouji lightly on the arm. 'Come on,' he said. 'It's not as if he loves school.'

'But – ' Kouji repeated.

'You're wondering what's going to happen to me now – or in a few years really – without finishing school,' Kouichi finished.

'Worried rather…but yeah.' Kouji looked carefully at his careworn brother. 'What did you do then?'

'Stuff,' the other replied unspecifically, before elaborating at the glare he received. 'I sort of did casual work at Industrial Illusions, then took some odd jobs around and about.'

'Those are just fine for a sixteen year old,' Izumi frowned. 'But really, you should have considered what you would do after that.'

'I tried,' the other said quietly. 'I couldn't think of anything.'

'Well,' a cheerful voice interrupted them suddenly. 'How about staying here – oh, whoops. Sorry.'

'No problem,' Tomoki grunted, picking himself up off the floor. Luckily, Judai hadn't stepped on him very hard…although it was the unexpected entrance that had put him on the floor in the first place.

'Staying?' Both twins blinked at him.

Judai shrugged. 'Why not? You enjoyed duelling, didn't you? Looking past the whole why you were doing it in the first place.'

'Well…' Kouichi answered. 'Yes, but…'

'And you worked with Industrial Illusions and your friend for quite a bit…'

'Yes, but –'

'You could easily get a sponsorship once you graduate and go into the pros, or maybe you'd prefer research…'

'But –'

'…or if you like drawing, you could design new cards...'

'I –'

'Honestly,' Kouji snapped. 'At least let my brother reply.'

'…and there are people over twenty in the freshman classes…oh whoops.' Judai laughed sheepishly. 'Sorry, I always get carried away with things.'

'I'll say,' Kouji muttered under his breath, accidentally cutting his brother off. 'And Ni-san likes games of strategy, research and drawing so that sounds good.'

'…I believe I'm the one whose supposed to be replying to this,' Kouichi said, staring at his brother.

'You take too long thinking,' was the reply.

* * *

'I'm surprised to see you guys still hanging about,' Judai commented. Not that he minded his room (or temporary reinstatement) being a little more crowded than normal, he had thought a bunch of missing kids returning would be eager to go back to their homes. However it seemed they were lingering.

'It's not that we don't want to go back home,' Takuya, the only other in the room at the time, said slowly. 'And Shinya's gonna kill me as soon as I get back anyway, but time runs differently in the Digital World you know. While we could see what was going on around here sometimes – though times were all messed up so we never realised Kouichi was never at school or any stuff like that – we were in a totally different world, and one that feels closer to us.'

'Reminds me of this place,' Judai said. 'It's more a first home than a second home, if you know what I mean.'

'course I do,' the other responded. 'That's exactly what I mean. But still, can't stay there forever…and because we were with Kouichi the last time, it felt a little weird not having him around this time 'round. Though it's also a shame we can't share that world with other people ya know; most kids just got a glimpse of it and anyone without a cell phone back or wasn't a kid back then was out of luck.'

'Cell phone?' A small memory was nagging Judai. 'You don't mean that game about destiny or something, do you?'

'Uhh…yeah, that one.'

'You mean, if I hadn't ignored the message because I was in the middle of a duel, I could have seen a whole new world!'

'Judai,' Yubel sighed. 'You say that as if it's anything new.'

'You mean you've been there?'

'Well, that's not exactly what I meant…but yes.'

'Cool! You've got to show me around some day.'

Takuya found himself quickly forgotten as the weird looking woman and the older brunet continued their…discussion.

* * *

'Duel Academia accepts all sorts of students,' Principal Samejima said, fingers intertwined and resting atop the desk. 'And that at any time, for it has always been my wish to help all people, youth or adult, grow as both people and duellists.'

It was unique in Japan that way, as no other school would take someone who had once abandoned their education…for whatever reason. Kouichi's friends were another story, as disappearing was out of their control, but Kouichi himself had left voluntarily, and while he didn't exactly regret the decision, he was at a bit of a loss what to do for the rest of his life, except for learning through it.

And after he'd thought about it a little, it had sounded like a good idea. Judai was right; he had enjoyed it, regardless of why he had started. His friends were right too…and he had enjoyed being at Industrial Illusions. And Yutaka, after Tomoki had talked himself out with his elder brother, wholeheartedly agreed. In fact, he looked a little smug, but when questioned he simply said that he'd have no trouble getting his dream job with Pegasus once he graduated.

And that left Kouichi to try and figure out exactly what that dream job would be and why Yutaka knew it before him (and Kouji by the looks of things) and wouldn't tell.

'Welcome to Duel Academia,' Principal Samejima finished, after going through a few other things.

'Thank you sir.' Kouichi bowed to him.

* * *

'What sort of deck do you use?'

'Uhh…I'm still working on that one,' Kouichi said sheepishly, turning to find a partially familiar face looking back at him.

The other realised the confusion and smiled. 'Fujiwara,' he said by means of introduction. 'Fujiwara Yusuke.'

'Kimura Kouichi,' the other responded, scrambling to pick up the booster packs he had been looking through. He'd been rearranging his deck a little, taking out what dragged it through duels and making it a little more well-rounded and active.

Fujiwara looked over at the arranged cards. 'A life draining deck?' he asked. 'That's certainly interesting.'

'A little too reliant on spells and traps maybe,' Kouichi confessed. 'I need a few more monster cards, but I'm rather attracted to the cats.'

'I much prefer fairies myself,' Fujiwara said with an amused smile. 'Can't deny cats aren't handy though. But have you tried using Brain Jacker? That would be quite handy.'

'Brain Jacker,' the other repeated. 'No I haven't. An effect monster?'

'Yes,' the upperclassman replied. 'Its flip effect allows you to equip it to an opponent's monster and take control of it, giving your opponent 500 life points during each of their standby phases.'

'Hmm…yes, that would be a good one.' He picked up Necrovalley, and added that. It would benefit A Cat of Ill Omen, and it would also stop most of the problems he ran into with Jinzo. The only cards in his deck that would be ill-effected would be Monster Reborn and Pot of Benevolence.

'That would be a difficult deck to counter if you're not prepared,' Fujiwara said, looking over his shoulder at the spell, then at the deck as a whole as the other inserted it. 'Reliant on a single main strategy, but somehow still versatile.' His tone was a little nostalgic. 'Human beings hate being tied down. And they should always be moving. I suppose Duel Academia in that sense is like the tunnel leading to a new world.'

'A tunnel leading to the new world,' Kouichi repeated. 'This school teaches a lot more than academics.' He found himself smiling for little specific reason. 'That sounds good to me.'

'Sometimes,' the other said. 'I think it's the only place in the world that forgives.'

Kouichi looked a little startled.

'Darkness,' Fujiwara admitted, although he doubted the younger boy would have any recollection of it. Most people thought it to have been a dream, and really it was only because of Judai that the people of Duel Academia knew the truth.

'Darkness,' the other repeated, before smiling a little. 'That is a bit unkind.'

It was Fujiwara's turn to be surprised.

'Light and darkness,' Kouichi explained. 'The two things from which all other things were created, but they are a pair that cannot exist separate. They have different names but they complete each other, so where does one start and the other end? And beyond that…' He looked up from his cards to the other's expression, now contemporary. 'They are simply elements, or powers in a sense. Like all power, it is what is done with it that defines it.'

'You sound like you've spent a lot of time thinking about that,' Fujiwara commented.

'Years and years,' the other laughed softly. 'That's a story in itself, but a good friend once told me: "light and darkness are brothers. Darkness is not a bad thing unless you choose to make it that way." And it's true; we call the night darkness, and in the night we sleep and rest. We hide in the shadows when we don't want to be seen, or when the sun is out and we seek shelter from it. And things we attribute to light: the sun for instance, can bring about pain.'

'Sunburn,' Fujiwara laughed. 'I'd forgotten how brutal the summers were here…aah, but that would make little sense to you.'

'I think I'd like to hear the story anyway.'

'I think you have an interesting story of your own to tell. But it wouldn't be good for an upperclassman like me to stop you from doing your homework…unless I was to help you with it.'

'Ah, I'm fine.'

'You sure?' Fujiwara raised an eyebrow. 'You have quite a bit to catch up on.'

'Yuki-san recommended I fix my deck first, before –' Kouichi was interrupted by a fellow freshman, wearing a Ra jacket unlike the Orisis one he wore. But Judai's legacy had almost abolished the attitude of superior dorms, and it was like an equal that one freshman addressed another.

'Let's duel!'


End file.
